Source: UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY submitted to NRP
FORESTRY AND RANGELAND EXTENSION AT USU
Sponsoring Institution
National Institute of Food and Agriculture
Project Status
COMPLETE
Funding Source
RREA
Reporting Frequency
Annual
Accession No.
1011375
Grant No.
(N/A)
Cumulative Award Amt.
(N/A)
Proposal No.
(N/A)
Multistate No.
(N/A)
Project Start Date
Oct 17, 2016
Project End Date
Sep 30, 2021
Grant Year
(N/A)
Program Code
[(N/A)]- (N/A)
Recipient Organization
UTAH STATE UNIVERSITY
(N/A)
LOGAN,UT 84322
Performing Department
Cooperative Extension
Non Technical Summary
Through this project we intend to improve technical, social, and economic knowledge and abilities of forest and rangeland managers and owners, arborists, andurban foresters. This is needed because forest and rangeland resources in Utah are being negatively affected by drought, invasive species, insects, diseases, increasing population and related development. Knowledge and abilities will be improved by animal grazing behaviorworkshops, the Restoring the West Conferences, and consultation with individuals and groups involved in natural resource use and management.
Animal Health Component
(N/A)
Research Effort Categories
Basic
(N/A)
Applied
(N/A)
Developmental
(N/A)
Classification

Knowledge Area (KA)Subject of Investigation (SOI)Field of Science (FOS)Percent
1230699302050%
1210799302050%
Knowledge Area
123 - Management and Sustainability of Forest Resources; 121 - Management of Range Resources;

Subject Of Investigation
0799 - Rangelands and grasslands, general; 0699 - Trees, forests, and forest products, general;

Field Of Science
3020 - Education;
Goals / Objectives
USU Extension has a goal of enhancing forest and rangeland stewardship and health by educating forest and rangeland owners and managers to improve their ability to manage these lands and resources (including rural and urban forests). USU Extension forestry and range will educate land managers and owners about forest and rangeland conservation and restoration including topics such as fire, climate change, and the effects of grazing on rangeland sustainability. RREA Strategic Goals that will be addressed in this work are Ensuring Healthy Ecosystems and Enhancing Resource Management on Working Forests and Rangelands.
Project Methods
The Restoring the West Conference will be the primary way that we will reach forest managers and owners. We reach about 200 to 250 forest and other land management professionals and owners through this annual conference. The conference is primarily run by two Extension foresters and an extension assistant. We always conduct a fairly thorough assessment of the conference impact. Sometime in the next several years we will survey past attendees of the conference to see what their perception is of the longer term impacts of having attended the conference. USU Rangeland extension will educate rangeland owners and managers who need to know how to restore desired vegetation on degraded rangelands. Workshops and one-on-one interaction will teach them about alternative management systems that focus on plant-herbivore interactions and animal behavioral principles. Participants will be taught how to use livestock to manipulate vegetation rather than chemicals or power equipment. These educational efforts will be done with the support of and in coordination with the Utah Partners for Conservation and Development and the Utah Grazing Improvement Program. Evaluation will be based on producer/manager willingness to apply these approaches, agency acceptance of the these approaches as approved management practices, and acres under these management systems.

Progress 10/17/16 to 09/30/21

Outputs
Target Audience:Forest and range landowners and managers, arborists, agency fire personnel. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Restoring the West Conference The annual Restoring the West (RTW) was held live in 2016-2019, and virtually in 2020 and 2021. The RTW focuses on a different pertinent restoration issue each year, such as energy development, biomass use, aspen health, and riparian environments. We average 180 registrants per year. More than 300 RTW talks are available online, some with more than 1,500 views. One of the goals of the RTW events is a two-way exchange of knowledge and information between scientists and managers, which helps bring practical research ideas and needs into the USU community. The RTW conference was held as a virtual event in 2020 and 2021 with a combined 275 registrants. Evaluation Program evaluations indicate a positive impact on more than 63 million acres from managers applying information gained at the RTW Conference; this represents an area larger than the state of Utah. In 2020, we administered a survey to attendees (n=299) asking about the acreage participants manage and the influence of the RTW Conference. We received 150 responses, or 50% of those surveyed. The results, represented in Figures 1 and 2 below, show that respondents reported the following: Management abilities improved because of attending RTW (81%) Knowledge improved because of attending RTW (99%) About one-third manage more than 100,00 acres (31%), yielding the most conservative estimate of 63 million acres positively impacted by RTW One-sixth manage more than a million acres (16%), yielding the most conservative estimate of 63 million acres positively impacted by RTW How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Professional meeting presentations: McAvoy, D.J. (2021, July 14). Cross Laminated Timber. [Invited]. Summer Citizens Speaker Series, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J., (2021, April 23). Recent developments in biochar research, Intermountain Chapter, Society of American Foresters, Spring Convention (virtual format), Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2021, April 8). How do you make biochar? Scales of production. Biochar Opportunities in the Southwest: Extension Workshop, University of Arizona Cooperative Extension (virtual format), Gila County, AZ. McAvoy, D.J., and Harden, G. (2021, March 26). Wildland Stories: Biochar with Darren McAvoy (virtual format), Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2021, February 25). Utah Prescribed Fire Council update for the Utah Wildland Urban Interface Fuels Committee, Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands (virtual format), Salt Lake City, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, December 7). Big box biochar kilns for hazardous fuel reduction and carbon sequestration (virtual format), National Biochar Week, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, November 3). What the Utah Prescribed Fire Council can do for the Bureau of Land Management, Utah BLM Prescribed Fire and Fuels Workshop, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, October 30). Big box biochar kilns for hazardous fuel reduction, resource protection, and carbon sequestration, Society of American Foresters National Virtual Conference, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, October 22). Nineteenth Annual Timber Harvest/Forestry Practices Tour/2020 Wildland Fire Tour (virtual), 106 Reforestation Fuels Reduction Project, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, October 16). County Seat with Chad Booth, 106 Fire Mitigation Pilot, Tavaputs Plateau, Sunnyside, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2020, June 18). Biochar kilns webinar. [Invited]. Garden and Country Extension Webinar Series, University of Arizona Gila County Cooperative Extension, Globe, AZ. Davis, E.J., Huber-Stearns, H., Cheng, T., McAvoy, D.J., and Caggiano, M. (2020, February 26). Learn at Lunch Webinar Series: Boundary-Spanning for Collective Action: Managing Wildfire Risk in the West, Logan, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2019, October 1). Reducing hazardous fuels with simple biochar kilns. International Union of Forest Research Organizations Conference, Curitiba, Brazil. McAvoy, D.J., & Villalba, J. (2019, September 16). Flame cap kilns for hazardous fuels reduction and biochar application in the western United States. Biochar II: Production, Characterization and Applications, Cetraro, Italy. McAvoy, D.J., & Edwards, G. (2019, September 16). Reducing hazardous fuels with simple biochar kilns. [Invited, virtual presentation]. Colorado Open Space Alliance Conference, Steamboat Springs, CO. McAvoy, D.J. (2019, September 5). Forest to frame: Managing forests to support healthy communities. Forest to Frame: Mass Timber from a Utah Perspective, Heber City, UT. McAvoy, D.J. (2019, July 10). Big box biochar kilns. [Invited]. Summer Citizens Speaker Series, Logan, UT. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Continue to host biochar kiln workshops; planning events for Park City, UT, Salt Lake City, UT, Preston, ID, Paonia, CO, Cascade, ID, and others. Continue to host the Restoring the West Conference. Continue to give presentations at professional meetings, publish peer reviewed fact sheets and journal articles.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Biochar Kiln Program USU Forestry Extension starting introducing simple biochar production methods to agency foresters and private forest landowners in 2017, we have since given more than 26 professional presentations on this topic at conferences in almost every western state, several eastern states, Italy and Brazil, and have published five peer reviewed journal articles and three peer reviewed fact sheet on this topic. We have also hosted more than 14 biochar production workshops with hundreds of participants in Utah, Colorado, and Idaho. Evaluation To examine any behavioral changes resulting from a 2019 workshop, we surveyed this group of attendees eight months later. Because of attending the biochar kiln demonstration, participants: Attempted to make biochar using the techniques learned (n=3; 23%) Added biochar to the soil or land they manage (n=5; 38%) Increased biochar knowledge (n=11; 85%) Increased interest in biochar kilns (n=12; 92%) The following results occurred in response to my efforts with biochar: The Joint Fire Science Program featured the biochar kiln program in an edition of its Success Stories series in 2019. The state of Utah adopted this approach, conducted its own workshops, and built its own kilns. State foresters used the kilns to pyrolyze an estimated 19 semitruck loads of wood, producing 125 yards of biochar. We conducted a series of workshops in several Utah counties on reducing hazardous fuels with the kilns: Salt Lake County (over 50 attendees); Carbon County (over 30 attendees); Emery County (over 40 attendees); and San Juan County (5 attendees). The diverse audiences participating included foresters, wildland firefighters, fuels specialists, gardeners, arborists, city managers, and landowners. A before-and-after survey documented a change in behavior six months after our initial workshop; the number of attendees who applied biochar to their soil increased by 71%, and the number of attendees who made biochar increased by 25%. The Utah Division of Air Quality granted us exemptions from burning restrictions when using the kilns based on its own representatives' attendance and observations; the particulate matter combusts within the kiln, so it produces very little smoke when operated properly. Crews used the kilns to burn materials when fire hazard prevented them from conducting their normal fuels reduction by open pile burning. The kilns enable material to be burned inside a stream management zone, allowing crews to avoid dragging woody material uphill, away from the streamside, for piling and burning there. This saves time and money and preserves the ecological integrity of the streambank. Adoption of Biochar Kilns in Utah Biochar kilns are being widely adopted in the Intermountain region, largely due to the efforts listed in this document. For example, the Park City Sustainability Office hosted its own biochar kiln workshop on May 10, 2019. Chalk Creek forest landowner Fred Oswald is conducting a biochar practice on his Summit County property, simultaneously operating eight kilns to reduce hazardous fuels. This biochar work is authorized and cost-shared by the Natural Resources Conservation Service in a newly accepted forestry practice. Evergreen Soils and Recycling Corporation in Layton, Utah, is building its own kilns and producing biochar. This year a new company called Go Biochar, which focuses on biochar production, was created in Salt Lake County. The UBRG is partnering with Utah Sovereign Lands by providing mini biochar kilns that will fit into rafts for transport down the Colorado River, thus allowing the treatment of hazardous fuels and invasive species that are otherwise difficult to treat. Heber City Fire Warden Ken Ludwig made his own set of kilns that he loans to private landowners for fuel reduction projects. Nathan Barrons, while Biomass Coordinator with the Utah Division of Forestry, Fire, and State Lands, independently borrowed our kilns to run his own workshop with foresters from the Utah Division of Sovereign Lands.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dup�y Larsen, L.N., Howe, P.D., Brunson, M.W. Yocom. L., McAvoy, D.J., Berry, E.H., & Smith, J.W. (2020). Risk perceptions and mitigation behaviors of residents following a near-miss wildfire. Landscape and Urban Planning 207:104005. Retrieve from https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landurbplan.2020.104005 McAvoy, D.J., Burritt, B., & Villalba, J. (2020, November). Use of biochar by sheep: Impacts on diet selection and nutrition. Journal of Animal Science 98:12. Retrieve from https://doi.org/10.1093/jas/skaa380 Lutz, J.A., Struckman, S., Furniss, T.J., Cansler, C.A., McAvoy, D.J., & Larson, A.J. (2020). Large-diameter trees dominate snag and surface biomass following reintroduced fire. Ecological Processes 9:41. Retrieve from https://ecologicalprocesses.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13717-020-00243-8 McAvoy, D.J., Kuhns, M.R., Dettenmaier, M., & Dup�y, L.N. (2020, June). Hosting flame cap biochar kiln workshops to teach hazardous fuel reduction. Journal of Extension 58(3), Article v58-3iw5. Retrieve from https://joe.org/joe/2020june/iw5.php
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dup�y, L.N., Dettenmaier, M., Kuhns, M., McAvoy, D.J., & Brunson, M.W. (2019). Paving the way: A plan for tackling urban forestry challenges and gaining public support. Journal of Extension 57(6): 110. Retrieve from https://www.joe.org/joe/2019december/tt3.php
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: McAvoy, D.J., Dettenmaier, M., & Kuhns, M.R. (2018). Mobile pyrolysis for hazardous fuels reduction and biochar production in western forests. Journal of Extension 56(1), Article 1IAW3. Retrieve from https://www.joe.org/joe/2018february/iw3.php Rogers, P.C., & McAvoy, D.J. (2018). Mule deer impede Pandos recovery: Implications for aspen resilience from a single-genotype forest. PLOS ONE. Retrieve from https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0203619
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Eddings, E.G., McAvoy, D.J., & Coates, R.L. (2017). Co-firing of pulverized coal with pinion pine/juniper wood in raw, torrefied and pyrolyzed forms. Fuel Processing Technology. doi:10.1016/j.fuproc.2015.11.020. Retrieve from https://collections.lib.utah.edu/details?id=14337 Hunter, B., Cardon, G.E., Olsen, S., Alston, D.G., & McAvoy D.J. (2017, January). Preliminary screening of the effect of biochar properties and soil incorporation rate on lettuce growth to guide research and educate the public through Extension. Journal of Agricultural Extension and Rural Development 9(1): 14. Page-Dumroese, D., Busse, M.D., Archuleta, J.G., McAvoy, D.J., & Roussel, E. (2017). Methods to reduce forest residue volume after timber harvesting and produce black carbon. Scientifica, Article ID 2745764. Retrieve from https://www.treesearch.fs.fed.us/pubs/53830
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Harden, G., & McAvoy, D.J. (2021). Pinyon-juniper ecology. Utah State University Extension. Retrieve from https://forestry.usu.edu/news/utah-forest-facts/pj_ecology_management
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dettenmaier, M., Dup�y, L.N., & McAvoy, D.J. (2020). Taking it to the road: Utah biochar workshops increase knowledge and lead to behavior change. Utah State University Extension. Retrieve from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/2082
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: McAvoy, D.J., & Dettenmaier, M. (2019). Hazardous fuels reduction using flame cap biochar kilns. Utah State University Extension, USU Extension Forest Facts, NR/FF/037. Retrieve from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/2057
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Alston, D., Davis, R., McAvoy, D.J., Spears, L., Malesky, D., & Keyes, C. (2018). Balsam wooly adelgid basic fact sheet, Utah State University Extension, Utah Pests, ENT-190-18. Retrieve from https://digitalcommons.usu.edu/extension_curall/1839/ Alston, D., Davis, R., McAvoy, D.J., Spears, L., Malesky, D., & Keyes, C. (2018). Balsam wooly adelgid advanced fact sheet, Utah State University Extension, Utah Pests, ENT-191-18.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2021 Citation: Lutz, J.A., Struckman, S., Furniss, T.J., Birch, J.D., Yocom, L.L., & McAvoy, D.J. (2021). Large-diameter trees, snags, and deadwood in southern Utah, USA. Ecological Processes 10:9. Retrieve from https://ecologicalprocesses.springeropen.com/articles/10.1186/s13717-020-00275-0


Progress 10/01/19 to 09/30/20

Outputs
Target Audience:Dr. Michael Kuhns, Forestry Extension Specialist - Arboriculture, Urban/Community Forestry, and Forestry Education. Darren McAvoy, Forestry Extension Assistant Professor - Woody Biomass, Forest Management, Wildfire, Forest Harvesting. Dr. Eric Thacker, Rangeland Extension Specialist - Rangeland Management Education. Partners: Western Aspen Alliance, Utah Community Forest Council, Utah Chapter ISA, TreeUtah, Utah Nursery and Landscape Association, state legislators and county commissioners, federal and state resource management agencies, Utah Watershed Initiative, Utah Grazing Improvement Project, USDA Forest Service, and others. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Restoring the West Conferences, rangeland management workshops and conferences, forestry webinars, biochar workshops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Restoring the West Conferences, rangeland management workshops and conferences, forestry webinars, biochar workshops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plan for and hold the 2020(will occur in FY21) and 2021Restoring the West Conferences, several forestrywebinars, another wild horse and burrow summit, and several biochar and kiln workshops.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Urban/Community Forestry and Forest Management: RREA funding helped with maintenance of the Extension Forestrywebsite (http://forestry.usu.edu) and the Utah Tree Browser website (www.treebrowser.org). The Utah Extension Forestry website this year (10/1/19 to 9/30/20), forestry.usu.edu) has averaged 621 visitors/day with a total of 200,519 users and 346,482 pageviews.We redesigned the Tree Browser website, making its content much more accessible and increasing traffic to our site.The Restoring the West conference this year had a total of 301 attendees overtwo days --138 on October 6, 2020and 163 on October 7, 2020. 80.7% of those who responded to our poll saw an incrase in management abilities; 99.3% saw an increase in knowledge; and 78% saw an increase in skills. Attendees were pleased with the selected topics and associated speakers. We held twobiochar kiln workshops/open housesin FY 2020 with 65 at ehndees. Our Rangeland Extension Specialist hosted a third Wild Horse and Burro Summit, this time in Cody, Wyoming with 50 on-site and 70 registeredonline participants.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: McAvoy, D.M., M.R. Kuhns, M. Dettenmaier, and L.N. Dup�y. 2020. Conducting flame cap biochar kiln workshops to teach clientele how to reduce hazardous fuel. J. of Extension 58(3).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dupey, L.N., M. Dettenmaier, M.R. Kuhns, D.J. McAvoy, and M. Brunson. 2019. Paving the way: A roadmap for tackling urban forestry challenges and gaining public support. J. of Extension 57(6); (ID 19015TOT).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dettenmaier, M., Dupey, L., Kuhns, M.R., & McAvoy, D.J., (2020) Evaluating perceived benefits of a long-running Extension program: Lessons from a regional restoration-based conference. Journal of the NACAA.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: McAvoy, D.J., & Dettenmaier, M. (2019). Hazardous fuels reduction using flame cap biochar kilns. USU Extension Forest Facts, NR/FF/037. Retrieve from https://forestry.usu.edu/files/utah-forest-facts/hazardous-fuels-reduction-using-flame-capbiochar-kilns.pdf
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kuhns, M.R., M. Dettenmaier, and J. Tegt. 2019. Identifying & preventing porcupine damage to trees. USU Extension Utah Forest Facts, NR/FF/038 (pr). 8 pp. https://forestry.usu.edu/files/utah-forest-facts/utah-forest-facts-identifying-andpreventing- porcupine-damage-to-trees.pdf.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Riginos, C., K. Gunnell, T. A. Monaco, K. E. Veblen, E. T. Thacker. 2018. Disturbance type and sagebrush community type affect plant community structure following shrub reduction. Range Ecology and Management 72:619-631.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dahlgren, D. K., E.T. Thacker. 2019. Livestock Grazing and Sage-grouse: Science, Policy, and the 7-inch Rule. NR/Wildlife/2019-03pr.


Progress 10/01/18 to 09/30/19

Outputs
Target Audience:Dr. Michael Kuhns, Forestry Extension Specialist - Arboriculture, Urban/Community Forestry, and Forestry Education. Darren McAvoy, Forestry Extension Assistant Professor - Woody Biomass, Forest Management, Wildfire, Forest Harvesting. Dr. Eric Thacker, Rangeland Extension Specialist - Rangeland Management Education. Partners: Western Aspen Alliance, Utah Community Forest Council, Utah Chapter ISA, TreeUtah, Utah Nursery and Landscape Association, state legislators and county commissioners, federal and state resource management agencies, Utah Watershed Initiative, Utah Grazing Improvement Project, USDA Forest Service, and others. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Restoring the West Conferences, rangeland management workshops and conferences, forestry webinars, biochar workshops. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Restoring the West Conferences, rangeland management workshops and conferences,forestry webinars, biochar workshops. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Plan for and hold the 2019 (will occur in FY20) and 2020 Restoring the West Conferences, 6 to 12 urban forestry and forestry webinars, another wild horse and burrowsummit, and several biochar and kiln workshops.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Urban/Community Forestry and Forest Management: RREA funding helped with maintenance of the Extension Forestry website (http://forestry.usu.edu) and the Utah Tree Browser website. The Utah Extension Forestry website had 212,712visitors and 428,002page views in FY19. The Tree Browser had 62,192visitors in FY19. Web searches continue to findmore content within the Tree Browser, making its content much more accessible and increasing traffic to our site. We held the 2018 RTW Conference on Multiple Use and Sustained Yield of Resources on Public Land: Is It Still Possible?, and we began preparation for our 2019Restoring the West Conference on Managing Water by Managing Land. We had about 140 attendees in October 2018and 150 in October of 2019. We held eight biochar kiln workshops in FY 2019. Rangeland Management: Our Rangeland Extension Specialist hosted a second Wild Horse and Burro Summit, this time in Reno, Nevadawith 150 attendees.

Publications

  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Awaiting Publication Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dupey, L.N., M. Dettenmaier, M.R. Kuhns, D.J. McAvoy, and M. Brunson. 2019. Paving the way: A roadmap for tackling urban forestry challenges and gaining public support. J. of Extension 57(6); (ID 19015TOT).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: Dettenmaier, M., L.N. Dupey, M.R. Kuhns, and D.J. McAvoy. 202?. Evaluating perceived benefits of a long-running extension program: lessons from a regional restoration-based conference. Journal of Extension. In review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: McAvoy, D.M., M.R. Kuhns, M. Dettenmaier, and L.N. Dup�y. 202? Conducting flame cap biochar kiln workshops to teach clientele how to reduce hazardous fuel. J. of Extension. In review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: McAvoy, D.M., M.R. Kuhns, and M. Dettenmaier. 202?. Flame cap biochar kilns for hazardous fuels reduction, wood utilization, forest restoration, and invasive species management. Forests. In review.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Under Review Year Published: 2020 Citation: McAvoy, D.M., and M.R. Kuhns. 202?. Reducing hazardous wildland fuels with simple biochar kilns. J. of Extension. In review.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Kuhns, M.R., M. Dettenmaier, and J. Tegt. 2019. Identifying & preventing porcupine damage to trees. USU Extension Utah Forest Facts, NR/FF/038 (pr). 8 pp. https://forestry.usu.edu/files/utah-forest-facts/utah-forest-facts-identifying-and-preventing-porcupine-damage-to-trees.pdf.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dettenmaier, M., M. Kuhns, and D. McAvoy. 2019. Trees and sidewalks: USU Forestry Extension NUEL Exemplar Case Study. National Urban Extension Leaders Publication.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Riginos, C., K. Gunnell, T. A. Monaco, K. E. Veblen, K. Gunnel, E. T. Thacker, D. K. Dahlgren, T. A. Messmer. Potential for post-fire recovery of Greater Sage-grouse habitat.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Thacker, E. T., J. Holmstead. 2018. Beaver: Its about Dam time. Utah State University Cooperative Extension. NR/Wildlife/2019-02pr.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Dahlgren, D. K., E.T. Thacker. 2019. Livestock Grazing and Sage-grouse: Science, Policy, and the 7-inch Rule. NR/Wildlife/2019-03pr.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Stonecipher, C. A., E. T. Thacker, K.D. Welch, M. H. Ralphs, T. A. Monaco. 2019. LongTerm Persistence of Cool-Season Grasses Planted to Suppress Broom Snakeweed, Downy Brome, and Weedy Forbs. Range Ecology and Management 72:266-274.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2019 Citation: Starns, H. D., S. D. Fuhlendorf, R. D. Elmore, D. Twidwell, E. T. Thacker, T.J. Hovick, B. Luttbeg. 2019. Recoupling fire and grazing reduces wildland fuel loads on rangelands. Ecosphere 10(1), e02578.


Progress 10/01/17 to 09/30/18

Outputs
Target Audience:Land management professionals, arborists, urban/community foresters, green industry professionals, lawmakers, public officials, rangeland and forest owners and managers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?2017 Restoring the West Conference on Forest Restoration: What's Working, What's Not. Started preparation for the 2018 RTW Conference on Multiple Use and Sustained Yield of Resources on Public Land: Is It Still Possible?Wild Horse and Burro Summit. Forestry Extension Learn-at-Lunch Webinars. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Websites, factsheets, social media, mass media, webinars. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Restoring the West Conference 2019, Webinars, newsletters, factsheets.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Urban/Community Forestry and Forest Management: RREA funding helped with maintenance of the Extension Forestry website (http://forestry.usu.edu) and the Utah Tree Browser website. The Utah Extension Forestry website had 232,439 visitors and 477,396 page views in FY18. The Tree Browser had 52,097 visitors in FY18. Web searches are finding more content within the Tree Browser, making its content much more accessible. We held the 2017 Restoring the West Conference on Forest Restoration: What's Working, What's Not and started preparation for the 2018 RTW Conference on Multiple Use and Sustained Yield of Resources on Public Land: Is It Still Possible? We had about 140 attendees in October 2017 and 175 in October of 2018.USU Forestry Extension's website experienced160,361 page views with 151,197 users in FY18. The Tree Browser wsebsite experienced 139,095 pageviews, with 10,587 users.We held 13 webinars with topics ranging from green stormwater infrastructure, thewhite satin moth in the Lake Tahoe Basin, post-fire conifer regeneration in ponderosa pine forests, and identifying, assessing and managing hazard trees. We averaged 249 attendees perwebinar; our audience primarily consisted of arborists, urban / community foresters, and state and federal employees. Rangeland Management: Our Rangeland Extension Specialist hosted a Wild Horse and Burro Summit in Salt Lake City with 250 attendees. He also assembled a team composed of the state range management leads from the relevant federal agencies and created a draft of a Utah Monitoring Guide (UMG) in July 2018. This Guide provides ranchers with simple, straight-forward, quick, and efficient data collection techniques that are accepted by agencies. The team also developed an MOU that affirmed USFS and BLM support for rancher-led monitoring using the UMG. He also assisted the BLM and USFS in the collection of sage-grouse Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) data to help the agencies assess the quality of sage-grouse seasonal habitats impacting 201K acres of USFS land and 171K acres of BLM land in northern Utah.

Publications

  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Thacker, E. T., J. Holmstead. 2018. Utah monitoring guide. Utah State University Rangeland Extension. (Peer edited)
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Hulvey, K., K. Thomas, E. T. Thacker. 2018. A comparison of two herbaceous cover sampling methods to assess ecosystem services in high-shrub rangelands: photography-based grid point intercept (GPI) versus quadrat sampling. Rangelands (Accepted 8/19/2018).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Monaco, T. A., A. Jones, M. Pendergast, E. T. Thacker, L. Greenhalgh. 2018. Influence of land-use legacies following shrub reduction and seeding of big sagebrush sites. Range Ecology and Management (In press).
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Accepted Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rigby, C. W., K. B. Jensen, J. E. Creech, E. T. Thacker, B. L. Waldron, J. D. Derner. 2018. Establishment and Trends in Persistence of Selected Perennial Cool-Season Grasses in the Western United States. Range Ecology and Management (Accepted 8/20/2018)
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Adler, P., K. Renwick, E. Kachergis, M. Manning, T. Remington, E. T. Thacker, C. Aldridge, B. Bradley, A. Kleinhesselink, C. Curtis, D. Schlaepfer, B. Poulter. Managing big sagebrush in a changing climate. Utah State University Cooperative Extension NR/Wildlands/2018-01pr.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Apostol, K., McAvoy, D.J., Sparks, A., Kuhns, M.R., Jones, C., Zamora, D. 2018. Protect your home from a wildfire: Ember awareness checklist. USU Extension Forest Facts, NR/FF/036 (pr). 8pp.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Alston, D., Davis, R., McAvoy, D.J., Spears, L., Malesky, D., Hebertson, L., and Keyes, C. 2018. Balsam wooly adelgid basic fact sheet. Utah Pests Fact Sheet ENT-190-18. (pr). 4pp.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Alston, D., Davis, R., McAvoy, D.J., Spears, L., Malesky, D., Hebertson, L., and Keyes, C. 2018. Balsam wooly adelgid advanced fact sheet. Utah Pests Fact Sheet ENT-191-18. McAvoy, D.J., and Alston, D. 2018. New Utah forest insect pest: Balsam wooly Adelgid, Utah Pests Quarterly, Winter 2018/Vol. XII. (pr). 6pp.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Danvir, R., G. Simmonds, E. Sant, E. T. Thacker, R. Larsen, T. Svejcar, R. D. Ramsey, F. D. Provenza, C. Boyd. 2018. Upland bare ground and riparian vegetative cover under strategic grazing management, continuous stocking and multi-year rest in New Mexico mid-grass prairie. Rangelands 40:1- 8
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Frey, S. N., E. T. Thacker. 2018. Wild Horses and Burros: An Overview. Utah State University Cooperative Extension. NR/Wildlife/2018-01pr
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: McAvoy, D.J., Alston, D., Davis, R., and Dettenmaier, M. 2018. A new Utah forest insect pest: Balsam wooly adelgid. USU Extension Forest Facts, NR/FF/035. (pr). 4pp.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Rogers, P.C., and McAvoy, D.J. 2018. Mule deer impede Pandos recovery: Implications for aspen resilience from a single-genotype forest. PLOS ONE 13:e0203619
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2018 Citation: Stam, B., J. D. Scasta, E. T. Thacker. 2018. Animal Unit Month (AUM) Concepts and Applications for Grazing Rangelands. University of Wyoming Extension B-1320.


Progress 10/17/16 to 09/30/17

Outputs
Target Audience:Land management professionals, arborists, urban/community foresters, green industry professionals, lawmakers, public officials, outdoor recreation and tourism industry professionals and businesses, rangeland and forest owners and managers. Changes/Problems: Nothing Reported What opportunities for training and professional development has the project provided?Conferences, workshop, webinars, tours. How have the results been disseminated to communities of interest?Newsletters, extension factsheets, websites, social media. What do you plan to do during the next reporting period to accomplish the goals?Hold the 2018 Restoring the West Conference and rangeland workshops.

Impacts
What was accomplished under these goals? Urban/Community Forestry and Forest Management: RREA funding helped with maintenance of the Extension Forestry website (http://forestry.usu.edu) and the Utah Tree Browser website. The Utah Extension Forestry website had 230,600 visitors in FY 2017. The Tree Browser had 42,100 visitors in FY17. Web searches are finding more content within the Tree Browser, making its content much more accessible. We held the 2016 Restoring the West Conference on Climate, Disturbance, and Restoration in the Intermountain West and started making preparations for the 2017 conference on Forest Restoration: What's Working, What's Not. We had about 150 attendees in October 2016 and 140 in October of 2017. Rangeland Management: Our Rangeland Extension specialist conducted a series of USFS Permittee Workshops. The purpose of these workshops was to increase permittee understanding of grazing leases and the role of rangeland management specialists. He had observed that most conflicts between permittees and federal agencies arise over misunderstandings of how grazing permits were administered and the process for making allotment management decisions. He conducted five workshops in Utah covering all of the Utah National Forests. There were 235 attendees that attended the workshops, including livestock permittees, range managers, county extension agents and state and county government officials. He also invited at least one County Commissioner from all of the affected counties because livestock producers often call their County Commissioners when conflicts with agencies arise. 87% of attendees agreed that the workshop would have a positive impact on grazing allotment management. Most (>50%) agreed that the information given at the workshops would reduce conflict, increase communication and decrease misunderstanding. 51% thought that the workshop would open up better lines of communication and 48% thought it would help increase communication. Seventy-one percent believed they will implement practices from the workshop in their allotment management. The attendees of the workshops manage ~5.3 million acres of public land, so the impact of improving management impacts a significant area in the state of Utah.

Publications

  • Type: Conference Papers and Presentations Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thacker, E. 2017. 39th Annual Range Livestock Workshop & Tour Proceedings. Utah State University Cooperative Extension. Logan UT (Editor).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Elmore, D. R., C. H. Bielski, S. D. Fuhlendorf, T. J. Hovick, H. D. Starns, E. T. Thacker, D. Twidwell. 2017. Managing fuels while enhancing prairie  chicken habitat. Final Report. Joint Fire Science PROJECT ID: 13-1-06-8.
  • Type: Journal Articles Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Springer, T. L., E. T. Thacker. 2017. Apparent seed digestibility and germination of seed after passage through the digestive system of quail. Southwest Naturalist 62:193-199.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Starns H. D., S. D. Fuhlendorf, R. D. Elmore, D. Twidwell, E. T. Thacker, T. J. Hovick. 2017. Patch-Burning reduces fuels and benefits prairie-chicken conservation. Great Plains Fire Exchange. GPE publication 2017-01.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Stewart, E., E. T. Thacker, M. D. Garcia, J. J. Villalba. 2017. Understanding the contributions of beef cattle to greenhouse gas emissions. Utah State University Cooperative Extension AG/Beef/2017-03pr.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thacker, E. T. 2017. Camp Williams targeted grazing plan. rng17-001. Utah State University Logan, Utah.
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thacker, E. T., J. Holmstead. 2017. Utah Wild Horse Facts. Wild Horses in Utah. Utah State University Range Land Extension (tour handout).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Thacker, E. T., J. Holmstead. 2017. When there are too many. Utah State University Range Land Extension (tour handout).
  • Type: Other Status: Published Year Published: 2017 Citation: Ward, R., R. Larsen, K. Salisbury, E. T. Thacker. 2017. Economic impact of grazing on the Manti-La Sal National Forest and in Carbon, Emery and Sanpete Counties. Utah State University Economic Research Institute Report #2017-02.