A key reasons for its success is that it has strong interagency support. Funding has come not just from Forest Service research, but also from BLM, National Park Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, National Forest Systems, and the Department of the Interior. The Fire Effects research work unit at the Missoula Fire Sciences Lab began FEIS development in 1986, with intent to design a system that would be easy to keep current. Between 1986 and 1995, nearly 1,000 species summaries were written. Currently, over 100 species summaries are being revised, using money provided by the Department and the Forest Service fire programs.
Work is done under contract, and the cost for each species is the same.
For this reason, we have decided not to add summaries for Threatened and Endangered Plant species because there is often so little information that it is not cost efficient to pay a contractor to prepare a summary. All species summaries are organized according to the same hierarchical format, using identical titles for individual sections. You navigate through system menus the same way as in any other Internet database. Enter by selecting a species from an alphabetical list of Latin names. If you cannot find a listing for the Latin name of a species, it may be because the name has been changed.