Snowbanks to Grassbanks

View the project final report

Commodities

• Animals: bovine

Practices

• Animal Production: range improvement

High-elevation sagebrush rangelands in southwest Montana are used by livestock producers for summer grazing.  These areas also provide habitat for many wildlife species, including sage-grouse hens rearing broods.  The main source of water for these mesic (high moisture) sites are large snowbanks.  As they melt, snowbanks provide water to first order streams and promote green vegetation, if the release is gradual.  Several studies have documented decreases in the size of these snowbanks and predicted they will continue to decrease in size and melt earlier in the year as a result of climate change.  To slow the release of water from these snowbanks during the summer grazing season, several ranchers and conservation organizations have installed water slowing and spreading structures.  These structures aim to 1) convert the water stored in snowbanks into increased soil moisture that will prolong water release and 2) increase plant production to the benefit of livestock and wildlife.  The purpose of this project is to evaluate the effectiveness of these structures by comparing treated areas to untreated control areas, evaluating 1) cattle use, 2) vegetative changes, and 3) arthropod responses related to sage-grouse brood rearing habitat.  We do not know of another community project like this in the western United States. This unique effort should promote the sustainability of the grazing livestock industry, improve wildlife habitat and promote land stewardship.  Results from this study will be shared with other ranchers, scientists and conservationists.  This is a 3 year study.

The objectives of this proposal are to compare areas below snowbanks with water slowing/spreading devices to areas without these structures to answer the following questions:

1. Do cattle use treated areas more than control areas without any structures?
2. Do water slowers/spreaders improve herbaceous cover and plant production more than similar control sites without any structures?
3. Do water slowers/spreaders increase known greater sage-grouse chick food resources (arthropods and vegetation) compared to similar control sites without any structures?