Who Maintains the USNVC?
The USNVC is managed via a team of federal and non-federal partners. ESA’s Vegetation Classification Panel and NatureServe maintain the scientific rigor of the USNVC while the Vegetation Subcommittee of the Federal Geographic Data Committee (FGDC) coordinates, manages, and shares the USNVC. The USDA Forest Service (USFS) is the lead agency and chairs the Subcommittee. Any federal agencies that develop, use, or share vegetation data, while using federal funds, play a role in the Subcommittee’s work.
The primary tasks of the Subcommittee in implementing the USNVC are to:
- Disseminate and archive the classification content
- Document the vegetation plot data that form the basis for the recognized types
- Propose revisions to vegetation types or adopt new types
- Conduct peer review for new and revised types
- Report the results of the peer-review process
The Vegetation Subcommittee includes the following federal organizations:
- Department of Agriculture (USDA)
- Forest Service (FS) – Chair
- National Agriculture Statistical Service (NASS)
- Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)
- Department of Commerce
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA)
- National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS)
- Department of Defense (DOD)
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE)
- U.S. Air Force
- Department of the Interior (DOI)
- Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA)
- Bureau of Land Management (BLM)
- Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS)
- National Park Service (NPS)
- U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)
- Department of Transportation (DOT)
- Federal Highway Administration (FHWA)
- Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
In addition to federal agencies, the Subcommittee works with the non-profit NatureServe, which provides expertise in data management, as well as the Vegetation Classification Panel of the Ecological Society of America (ESA).
This is the list of FGDC Vegetation Subcommittee members as of September 2025:
| Name | Federal Department | Agency / Organization | Email address |
|---|---|---|---|
| Carol Spurrier | Department of Agriculture | Forest Service (NFS soon to be retired) | carol.spurrier@usda.gov |
| Joanne Baggs | Department of Agriculture | Forest Service (NFS); Chair | joanne.baggs@usda.gov |
| Karen Schleeweis | Department of Agriculture | Forest Service (R&D) | Karen.Schleeweis@usda.gov |
| Inga LaPuma | Department of Agriculture | Forest Service (SPTF) | Inga.LaPuma@usda.gov |
| Zhengwei Yang | Department of Agriculture | National Agricultural Statistics Service | zhengwei.yang@usda.gov |
| Erik Suffridge | Department of Agriculture | Natural Resources Conservation Service | erik.suffridge@usda.gov |
| Jamin Johanson | Department of Agriculture | Natural Resources Conservation Service | jamin.johanson@usda.gov |
| vacant | Department of Commerce | National Marine Fisheries Service | |
| Matt Dornback | Department of Commerce | National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration | matt.dornback@noaa.gov |
| Paul Jurena | Department of Defense | Air Force | paul.jurena.1@us.af.mil |
| Malia Sutphin | Department of Defense | Army Corps of Engineers | malia.j.sutphin@usace.army.mil |
| Thomas Mendez | Department of Interior | Bureau of Indian Affairs | thomas.mendez@bia.gov |
| Timothy Suto | Department of Interior | Bureau of Indian Affairs | timothy.suto@bia.gov |
| Emily Kachergis | Department of Interior | DOI Bureau of Land Management | ekachergis@blm.gov |
| Zoe Davidson | Department of Interior | DOI Bureau of Land Management | zdavidson@blm.gov |
| Tom Philippi | Department of Interior | National Park Service | tom_philippi@nps.gov |
| vacant | Department of Interior | United States Fish and Wildlife Service | john_huffman@fws.gov |
| Alexa McKerrow | Department of Interior | United States Geological Survey (retired) | amckerrow@usgs.gov |
| Mark Wiltermuth | Department of Interior | United States Geological Survey | mwiltermuth@usgs.gov |
| Dr. Richard Darden | Department of Transportation | Federal Highway Administration | richard.darden@dot.gov |
| vacant | Environmental Protection Agency | Environmental Protection Agency | |
| Ryan Pavlick | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | National Aeronautics and Space Administration | ryan.p.pavlick@nasa.gov |
| Alexis Conley | n / a | Ecological Society of America | alexis@esa.org |
| Bob Peet | n / a | University of North Carolina/Ecological Society of America Vegetation Panel | peet@unc.edu |
| Esteban Muldavin | n / a | University of New Mexico/Chair, Ecological Society of America Vegetation Panel | muldavin@unm.edu |
| Don Faber-Langendoen | n / a | NatureServe | don_faber-langendoen@natureserve.org |
| Kristin Snow | n / a | NatureServe | Kristin_Snow@natureserve.org |
| Patrick McIntyre | n / a | NatureServe | patrick_mcintyre@natureserve.org |
Photo Credits: ESA Vegetation Panel