Sagebrush

SageSTEP – Sagebrush steppe treatment evaluation project

SageSTEP is a long-term multidisciplinary experiment evaluating methods of sagebrush steppe restoration in the Great Basin.

You can find and access information on this project’s:

Land management treatments
Treatment effects on vegetation and fuels; soils and biogeochemistry; water runoff and erosion; wildlife and insects
The economics and human perspectives of management treatments
Association with climate change
Research findings thus far and project future

Pocket guide to sagebrush birds

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This guide features 40 bird species that utilize sagebrush habitats and includes tips on species identification, biology, and conservation status. Because not all of these species require similar habitat types and not all sagebrush is managed for the same goals, this guide discusses how avian needs can be incorporated into land management plans.

GIS database for sage-grouse and shrubsteppe management in the Intermountain West

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In this report 38 federal, state, university, and nongovernmental experts collaborated to produce new scientific information about greater sage-grouse populations, sagebrush habitats, and relationships among sage-grouse, sagebrush habitats, and land use.

Review of fuel treatment effectiveness in forests and rangelands and a case study from the 2007 megafires in central Idaho, USA

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This report provides managers with the current state of knowledge regarding the effectiveness of fuel treatments for mitigating severe wildfire effects. A literature review examines the effectiveness of fuel treatments that had been previously applied and were subsequently burned through by wildfire in forests and rangelands. A case study focuses on WUI fuel treatments that were burned in the 2007 East Zone and Cascade megafires in central Idaho. Both the literature review and case study results support a manager consensus that forest thinning followed by some form of slash removal is most effective for reducing subsequent wildfire severity.

Pinon and juniper field guide: asking the right questions to select appropriate management actions

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This field guide provides substantial evidence that pinon-juniper woodlands have experienced major expansion in their distribution since the late 1800s by encroaching into surrounding landscapes once dominated by shrubs and herbaceous vegetation. Both infilling and expansion affects soil resources, plant community structure and composition, water and nutrient cycles, forage production, wildlife habitat, biodiversity, and fire patterns across the landscape. Another impact is the shift from historic fire regimes to larger and more intense wildfires that are increasingly determining the future of this landscape.