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WYOMING'S RANGELAND HEALTH ASSESSMENT PROGRAM.
Author
Stam, Barton
Caudill, Justin
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2016
Body

Rangeland monitoring is an important component of the sustainable management of rangelands. Federal land management agencies and other range managers, often struggle to accomplish all necessary monitoring due to staffing, funding, and time constraints. Permittees are frequently asked to help monitor their grazing allotments in cooperation with local rangeland management specialists and other parties such as, university extension and state departments of agriculture. These joint monitoring efforts are frequently referred to as Cooperative Permittee Monitoring (CPM). In an effort to support CPM the Wyoming Legislature and Governor allocated funds for a Rangeland Health Assessment Program (RHAP) in 2010. Since then over $700,000 in RHAP grant dollars have been provided by the State of Wyoming through the Wyoming Department of Agriculture. Over 4 million acres of federal, state, and private rangelands have been or are currently under rangeland monitoring, funded in part, through RHAP dollars on 37 different projects. Participants in the program, both professional range managers and permittees report positive experiences. The RHAP program is currently working toward ensuring monitoring programs are sustainable in the long term after RHAP funds are expended. The presenter of this poster has worked with 4 RHAP grants in four Wyoming counties (Big Horn, Hot Springs, Washakie, and Fremont). Lands included in these grants include USDA Forest Service, Bureau of Land Management, private, and state lands. This poster will share examples of how the RHAP program has positively influenced rangeland management and CPM. Previous RHAP experience also suggests potential areas of improvement and factors that contribute to a successful project.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Corpus Christi, TX
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts