Progress 10/01/12 to 09/30/13
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): ARS, inconcert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), conducted the "Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project is to synthesize the knowledge and understanding presented at the symposium of the interactions of wildfire and invasive plants across the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, and to apply this understanding to developing more effective land managment practices. Approach (from AD-416): The outcome from this project will be a special issue of either Journal of Rangeland and Ecology & Managment or Rangelands where ARS Scienctist will help document and publish current knowledge of how to manage western rangelands degraded by invasive species and reduce the impact of wildfires. Funds will be used to help publish scientific findings presented at the symposium and associated training material developed for educating land managers that would be offered through the Society of Range Management Center for Professional Educational Development. This is the final report for this project which was terminated on August 9, 2013. The partners published six articles from the specialty conference on Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts, in the June 2009 Rangelands journal documenting current management perspectives and approaches on how to reduce the impact of invasive weeds and wildfires. In the September 2011, issue of Ecology and Range Management, the partnership documented the impacts of both invasive species and wildfires in the western United States in six peer reviewed articles. As a follow up to the conference, the ARS, Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) developed and implemented a training course on development and use of Ecological Site Descriptions. Eight workshops have been held, and over 350 state and federal agency staff have been trained on use of this new technology through June of 2013. The planning committee is scoping out the possibilities to extend this work through 2015, have an additional four (4) regional workshops, and develop a web-based training course to reduce training costs. Due to sequestration and reduction of funds in FY 2013, on-site training has been postponed until FY 2014. To provide a more efficient means of training, agency staff from the NRCS, BLM, and ARS will allocate funds to develop a series of webinars that can be viewed on demand. Although this will not completely replace the value of on-site training, it will allow the agencies a means of providing the background material to staff. In addition, contact information of technical experts will be provided to employees if they have technical questions on how to conduct Rangeland Health and/or develop and use Ecological Site Descriptions. This agreement is related to objective 4 of the in-house project, "Develop decision support tools for USDA to assess impact of type, location and number of management practices required to meet conservation and agricultural production goals nationwide". More specifically, develop an integrated package of ground-based and remote sensing tools to quantify and assess the environmental impact of management decisions and conservation practices at hillslope and landscape scales in woodland, shrub-steppe, and desert ecosystems of the Great Basin.
Impacts
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Publications
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Progress 10/01/11 to 09/30/12
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416): ARS, inconcert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), conducted the "Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project is to synthesize the knowledge and understanding presented at the symposium of the interactions of wildfire and invasive plants across the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, and to apply this understanding to developing more effective land managment practices. Approach (from AD-416): The outcome from this project will be a special issue of either Journal of Rangeland and Ecology & Managment or Rangelands where ARS Scienctist will help document and publish current knowledge of how to manage western rangelands degraded by invasive species and reduce the impact of wildfires. Funds will be used to help publish scientific findings presented at the symposium and associated training material developed for educating land managers that would be offered through the Society of Range Management Center for Professional Educational Development. This research directly supports objective 2: Devise management guidelines, technologies, and practices for conserving and restoring Great Basin rangelands. Specifically Sub-objective 2.1: Develop an integrated package of ground-based and remote sensing tools to quantify and assess the environmental impact of management decisions and conservation practices at hillslope and landscape scales in woodland, shrub-steppe, and desert ecosystems of the Great Basin. ARS, BLM, and NRCS developed and implemented a training course on development and use of Ecological Site Descriptions, 60 workshops have been held, and over 350 state and federal agency staff has been trained on use of this new technology through June of 2012. The planning committee is scoping out the possibilities to extend this work through 2015 and have an additional six (6) regional workshops and develop a web based training course to reduce training costs.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/10 to 09/30/11
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) ARS, inconcert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), conducted the "Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project is to synthesize the knowledge and understanding presented at the symposium of the interactions of wildfire and invasive plants across the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, and to apply this understanding to developing more effective land managment practices. Approach (from AD-416) The outcome from this project will be a special issue of either Journal of Rangeland and Ecology & Managment or Rangelands where ARS Scienctist will help document and publish current knowledge of how to manage western rangelands degraded by invasive species and reduce the impact of wildfires. Funds will be used to help publish scientific findings presented at the symposium and associated training material developed for educating land managers that would be offered through the Society of Range Management Center for Professional Educational Development. This project was established in support of Objective 2 of the in-house project: Devise management guidelines, technologies, and practices for conserving and restoring Great Basin rangelands. ARS, in concert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), Bureau of Land Management (BLM), University of Nevada, Reno, and other partners conducted the "Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, Nevada, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project was to coordinate the synthesis of the knowledge and publish the information derived from the workshop so that land managers and agriculture producers would have access to current technology to reduce the impact of wildfires and invasive plants in the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States. The conference was attended by 350 people from across the United States. Results from the conference were published as 6 articles in a special feature of the Journal Rangelands in 2009 (31:2 � 30) by the Society for Range Management. Five additional synthesis papers on impacts of invasive weeds and fire on sustainable western rangelands are being published in the Rangeland Ecology and Management in September 2011. The project hosted a 1 day symposium at the 2011 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting to present successful case studies of managing western rangelands to reduce the threat of wildfires. The partnership developed a series of 3-day workshops offered through the Society for Range Management on how to develop Ecological Site Descriptions that incorporate the latest technologies developed by ARS in monitoring rangeland health and estimating wind and water erosion. The first training session was held in November 2010. The ARS Principal Investigator has bimonthly teleconference with his BLM partner�s to discuss the status of the project. The ARS and BLM partners meet annually to review progress on the project and make adjustments as required to achieve milestones and obtain project goals.
Impacts
(N/A)
Publications
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Progress 10/01/09 to 09/30/10
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) ARS, inconcert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), conducted the "Wildrires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project is to synthesize the knowledge and understanding presented at the symposium of the interactions of wildfire and invasive plants across the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, and to apply this understanding to developing more effective land managment practices. Approach (from AD-416) The outcome from this project will be a special issue of either Journal of Rangeland and Ecology & Managment or Rangelands where ARS Scienctist will help document and publish current knowledge of how to manage western rangelands degraded by invasive species and reduce the impact of wildfires. Funds will be used to help publish scientific findings presented at the symposium and associated training material developed for educating land managers that would be offered through the Society of Range Management Center for Professional Educational Development. Documents Reimbursable with (BLM) Bureau of Land Management. Log 39755. (flo) ARS, in concert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), Bureau of Land Management, University of Nevada, Reno, and other partners conducted the "Wildfires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project was to coordinate the synthesis of the knowledge and publish the information derived from the workshop so that land managers and agriculture producers would have access to current technology to reduce the impact of wildfires and invasive plants in the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States. The conference was attended by 350 people from across the United States. Results from the conference were published as 6 articles in a special feature of the Journal Rangelands in 2009 (31: 2 ÿ¿ 30) by the Society of Range Management. The project will also host a 1 day symposium at the 2011 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting to present successful case studies of managing western rangelands to reduce the treat of wildfires. The partnership is developing a training course to be offered through the Society for Range Management on how to develop Ecological Site Descriptions that incorporate the latest technologies developed by ARS in monitoring rangeland health and estimating wind and water erosion. The first training session will be offered in early 2011. The ARS PI has bimonthly teleconference with his BLM partnerÿ¿s to discuss the status of the project. The ARS and BLM partners meet annually to review progress on the project and make adjustments as required to achieve milestones and obtain project goals. Problem Statement A: Need for economically viable rangeland management practices, germplasm, technologies and strategies to conserve and enhance rangelands ecosystems. National Program: Pasture, Forage and Range Land Systems (NP #215) Component 1: Rangeland Management Systems to Enhance the Environment and Economic Viability
Impacts
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Publications
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Progress 10/01/08 to 09/30/09
Outputs
Progress Report Objectives (from AD-416) ARS, inconcert with the Society for Range Management (SRM), conducted the "Wildrires and Invasive Plants in American Deserts" symposium workshop in Reno, NV, December 9-11, 2008. The purpose of this project is to synthesize the knowledge and understanding presented at the symposium of the interactions of wildfire and invasive plants across the arid and semi-arid regions of the United States, and to apply this understanding to developing more effective land managment practices. Approach (from AD-416) The outcome from this project will be a special issue of either Journal of Rangeland and Ecology & Managment or Rangelands where ARS Scienctist will help document and publish current knowledge of how to manage western rangelands degraded by invasive species and reduce the impact of wildfires. Funds will be used to help publish scientific findings presented at the symposium and associated training material developed for educating land managers that would be offered through the Society of Range Management Center for Professional Educational Development. Documents Reimbursable with (BLM) Bureau of Land Management. Log 39755. (flo) Significant Activities that Support Special Target Populations No progress to report due to late transfer of funds being posted on 09/08/2009.
Impacts
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Publications
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