Disseminating Research-based Information to Improve Great Basin Rangelands

Sagebrush-dominated rangelands provide the primary forage base for the livestock industry in the Great Basin region (Satyal 2006). A typical Great Basin ranch uses a variety of forage sources to meet livestock nutritional needs, frequently relying on grazing access to both private and public lands (Maher 2007). Thus the sustainability of livestock production in the Great Basin is directly linked to the health of both private and public lands. This forage base is at risk as the health of sagebrush rangelands declines due to invasion of exotic weeds such as cheatgrass, and encroachment by pinyon and juniper woodlands (Pellant et al. 2004). Changes in these plant communities have resulted in frequent wildfires, thus creating larger disturbed areas for cheatgrass to quickly invade (Miller and Tausch 2001; Knapp 1996). Because the region offers few alternative feed sources that are economically feasible, the risk of bankruptcy greatly increases for ranches if forage is made unavailable due to wildfire and subsequent rehabilitation activities (Maher 2007). Also, while cheatgrass itself can provide palatable early-season forage, cheatgrass-dominated areas are at risk of invasion by perennial noxious weeds that are inedible by livestock. The Bureau of Land Management estimates that cheatgrass already dominates 25 million acres of the Great Basin and spreads to an additional 4,000 acres each day (USDI-BLM 2005). Increased wildfire frequency and non-native plant invasion are also associated with population declines of native birds such as the Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and many of the 30 other invertebrate species that are closely associated with sagebrush (Knick et al. 2003; Connelly and Braun 1997). If these declines result in federal Threatened and Endangered Species listing, it will likely reduce flexibility to use Great Basin rangelands for domestic livestock grazing. For all these reasons, it is vital to the sustainability of western livestock production that ranchers have access to the most up-to-date information about practices that can maintain or improve the health of sagebrush rangelands. To date there has been relatively little scientific information available for public land managers and livestock producers to make decisions about restoring Great Basin rangelands and protecting areas at risk of degradation. However, the Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) has launched a comprehensive 5-year research program to evaluate methods of sagebrush ecosystem restoration funded by the federal Joint Fire Science Program. The success of SageSTEP lies not only in identifying the benefits and risks of sagebrush conservation practices, but also in transferring research results to agricultural professionals, public land managers, and livestock producers who can take action to reverse the ecological decline and maintain/improve a forage base to support agriculture. Therefore we have produced a DVD and booklet to further the outreach goals of SageSTEP and to provide Western SARE client publics with current information about sagebrush management and restoration.