Get reliable rangeland science

Reading the Range (RTR) is a collaborative rangeland monitoring program established primarily on the Tonto National Forest (TNF) in central AZ. The RTR program was started in 2001 due to a lack of data to better describe conditions on federal grazing allotments for the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). Partners have included the Natural Resources Conservation Service, the University of AZ Cooperative Extension, TNF range staff and grazing permittees, and the interested public and other government employees. The Extension model was the demonstration ranch. Acreage of allotments on the TNF enrolled in RTR has increased from 40,469 ha in 2001 to 606,624 ha in 2014. As more participants enrolled in RTR, we implemented using the Vegetation GIS Data System (VGS) midway through the 2008 monitoring season. Users of the software included all the partners listed above, from ages 7.5 to 70 years. Some of the older users had never used any type of computer when introduced to the software, yet the software is user friendly and relatively error proof. The VGS software also reduces fatigue and increases the enjoyment in data collection. In 2015, a statistics program paid for by Public Lands Council Endowment Trust grant funds was incorporated into VGS to better inform data reporting. Users of the software, both ranchers and agency employees, are able to generate reports to assist in range management and NEPA documents. Recently, several ranchers have loaded the VGS software onto purchased field tablets and received additional training (along with agency employees) in using the enhanced software for data collection and in generating reports. It is estimated that using the software has reduced office data entry time by 50 hrs/allotment and by an additional 10 to 20 hrs/allotment for data reporting functions.