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Abstracts of Recent Papers on Range Management in the West. Prepared by Charlie Clements, Rangeland Scientist, USDA Agricultural Research Service, Reno, NV.
Webinar recording.
Description: The desert city of St. George, Utah is one of the fastest growing metropolitan areas in the country. Three federally listed endangered plant species that grow directly in the path of this juggernaut development are at extreme risk of further decline and possible extinction. With the help of drones, deep learning technology and innovative restoration methods, we are engaged in research and active management to give these unique and beautiful species a better chance at long-term survival.
Presenter: Susan E. Meyer
Webinar recording.
Disturbance events, such as overgrazing and the catastrophic fires, in our shrub steppe landscape can kick-start a negative feedback loop with invasion of noxious weeds. These invasive species can have a direct effect on services and ecological benefits provided by the shrug steppe landscape. Learn what we can do to minimize the spread of invasive plant species and how native seeds and grasses can be used to restore this brittle system.
Webinar recording.
Presenter: Melanie Colavito, Ecological Restoration Institute
Description: The Ecological Restoration Institute recently completed a project analyzing the use and adoption of wildfire risk assessment and fuels treatment prioritization methods and products—broadly referred to here as decision support tools (DSTs)—by federal land managers. There is a need to demystify the topic of spatial fire planning specifically with respect to assessing wildfire risk and determining areas for fuels treatment prioritization to facilitate effective development and use of DSTs for pre-fire planning. We used semi-structured interviews with key informants to identify common DSTs for assessing wildfire risk and treatment planning and prioritization, approaches for the development and transfer of DSTs, examples of DST uses, common barriers and facilitators in the development and use of DSTs, and recommendations for facilitating the development and use of DSTs. Although there were many barriers identified to the effective development, integration, and use of DSTs in pre-fire planning, interview respondents had numerous recommendations for improving this process. We hope these recommendations can help shape the perspectives of science, management, and decision-making audiences for how to improve the use of DSTs for wildfire risk assessment and treatment prioritization in order to effectively meet the goals of national policies and frameworks.
3/2 – Seed Zones and Adaptive Traits (11 PST/12 MST) – Recording
Setting the landscape for native seed technologies: Balancing the need for wild, adapted native seeds with modifications needed for agricultural production and large-scale seeding – Beth Leger, University of Nevada, Reno
Guiding restoration with seed transfer zones: Concepts and applications – Rob Massatti, USGS
3/3 – Seed Modifications (11 PST/12 MST) – Recording
Application of seed coating technologies for rangeland restoration – Matt Madsen, Brigham Young University
Seed balls and other seed restoration innovations – Elise Gornish, University of Arizona
3/7 – Seed Delivery (*1 PST/2 MST, note the different time) – Recording
Drone seeding technology: A case study – Annabelle Monti, USFS; Maria Mircheva, Sugar Pine Foundation; Lauren Fletcher, Beta-Earth
Robots for microclimate identification and planting – Nichole Barger, TNC
3/9 – Current Perspectives on Seed Technology (11 PST/12 MST) – Recording
Management perspectives: Survey results – Mark Brunson, Utah State University
Managers’ solutions to local seeding challenges: Panel Q&A and discussion – Owen Baughman, TNC; Kevin Gunnell, UDNR; Erik Kriwox, Tony Owens, and Michael McCampbell, BLM
Webinar recording.
Description: Burn severity is the ecological change resulting from wildland fires. Areas burned with high severity are of concern to land managers and others because postfire vegetation, soil, and other important ecosystem components can be highly altered. Using satellite-derived maps of burn severity for almost 12,000 fires, researchers at the US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station developed statistical models to describe the spatial distribution of high-severity fire and produce a predictive map of severe fire potential for the contiguous United States. In this webinar, hear about methods used in this study and how the results and data products can be useful to scientists and land managers.
Presenter: Greg Dillon, Spatial Fire Analyst, U.S. Forest Service
Webinar recording.
There is broad understanding and agreement lately that there is a need to substantially increase the use of prescribed fire to create landscape resiliency, protect communities and ensure a safe and effective wildfire response. In response, more and more Prescribed Burn Associations are forming. Please join us as we visit with nine practitioners involved with Prescribed Burn Associations to learn about their models for implementation, their challenges and successes, and how you might start a similar organization where you live.
Themes and patterns in print media coverage of wildfires in the US, Canada, and Australia: 1986-2016
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Our results reveal that: (1) wildfire media coverage has increased over the past 30 years; (2) coverage is more varied than the common perspective, i.e. media continues to portray fires in a negative light; and (3) topic coverage varies significantly between countries.
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We demonstrate the application of a scale selection approach that jointly estimates the scale of effect and the effect of sagebrush cover on trends in population size using counts from 584 sage-grouse leks in southwestern Wyoming (2003–2019) and annual estimates of sagebrush cover from a remote sensing product. From this approach, we estimated a positive effect of mean sagebrush cover with a 95% probability that the scale of effect occurred within 5.02 km of leks. In an average year, we found that lower levels of sagebrush cover within these estimated scales could support increasing trends in sage-grouse population size when populations were small, but higher levels of sagebrush cover were needed to sustain growing populations when populations were larger. With standardized monitoring and annual estimates of vegetation from remote sensing, this scale selection approach can be applied to identify relevant scales for other populations, species, and biological responses such as demography and movement.