Field Tour / Workshop

Workshop webpage.

In this two-day field and classroom workshop in Sheridan, WY, participants will build upon the information presented in the Level 1 Virtual Workshop: Defending and Growing the Core by Breaking the Cycle of Annual Grass Invasion. This hands-on workshop is designed to take a more in depth look at how you can strategically plan for and manage invasive annual grasses (IAG). Participants will visit various sites including intact core areas and growth opportunity areas where we will discuss potential management approaches in each situation. This is also a great opportunity for participants to see multiple management tactics and their effects on rangeland plant communities over time. We will explore various monitoring techniques and discuss strengths and weaknesses. Through this field workshop, participants will become familiar with different management practices and improve their capacity to determine which management tactics will best suite their needs in different situations.

Virtual workshop recordings and resources.

Invasive annual grasses–such as cheatgrass, medusahead, and ventenata–are the leading cause of degradation and loss of America’s sagebrush grasslands, reducing forage and habitat, fueling more frequent and larger wildfires, and threatening rural economies. While invasive grasses are widespread, there remains a generational opportunity to proactively address this threat. However, many land managers may not be equipped with the information needed to plan and implement effective treatments.

​In this one-day virtual workshop, participants will learn about guiding principles, strategic planning processes, tools, and tactics for managing annual grass invasion in sagebrush country. Participants will be introduced to the proactive “defend and grow the core” management philosophy, which emphasizes protecting intact and functioning native plant communities, and expanding them through improved management techniques, rather than initially starting with the most degraded areas. This workshop seeks to inspire participants and start conversations across the sagebrush biome on how to meet the invasive annual grass problem head on in their own watersheds. We hope this information will be especially useful to any land manager, landowner, or conservation practitioner working to conserve and protect the sagebrush biome.