The Society for Range Management (SRM) released a special scientific
journal issue focused entirely on the woody invasion of western rangelands. The just-published studies in Rangeland Ecology & Management describe solutions to help land managers and landowners cut trees in the right places for the good of wildlife
and livestock.
This cutting-edge research will be presented at a symposium on Monday, January 31, 8am to 5pm Mountain Time, as part of SRM’s annual conference. You can participate, too! This event will be live broadcasted online for free, thanks to the Bureau
of Land Management.
“Conifers
have been steadily invading sagebrush and prairie country for the past 150 years, drying up precious streams, taking over habitat for wildlife, and replacing valuable forage for livestock,” says Val Anderson, president of SRM. “Now we can better target where
and how we remove trees to benefit the bird and the herd.”
Learn more and sign up here.
For the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, removing these encroaching woody plants has long been a conservation priority through its Sage Grouse Initiative and Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative. SGI has partnered with hundreds of ranchers and across
fences on public lands to remove 457,000 acres of conifer since 2010, restoring rangelands and core habitat for sage grouse.
Did you know that this symposium includes multiple IWJV led and funded research contributions? Find them here:
-- Aaron Holmes et al.
Bird Responses to Removal of Western
Juniper in Sagebrush-Steppe
-- Patrick Donnelly et al.
Extending Conifer Removal and
Landscape Protection Strategies from Sage-Grouse to Songbirds, a Range-Wide Assessment
-- Ali Duvall et al.
Conserving the Greater Sage-Grouse:
A Social-Ecological Systems Case Study from the California-Nevada Region
Fast facts about this event:
When: January 31, 2017 - 8am to 5pm Mountain Time
Where: St. George, UT or online from your computer
What: During this broadcast, a new study in the latest issue of
Rangeland & Ecology Management will be presented every 20 minutes live.
To live-stream presentations from the SRM symposium or access free links to all research papers visit
this webpage.
