In 2007, the Coronado National Forest (CNF) in southeastern Arizona was facing major NEPA deadlines and was lacking sufficient supporting data. The CNF had the innovative idea of implementing �Monitoring Week.� Monitoring Week was so successful they have continued to have one every year since then with the exception of 2014 due to the government furlough. Monitoring Week is moved from district to district depending on where the highest priority needs are. In 2017, the University of Arizona Cooperative Extension Rangeland Monitoring Program held their own monitoring week in Yuma Arizona for the Bureau of Land Management trend sites. Because of the success they experienced, they have plans to expand Monitoring Week in their area. Monitoring Weeks have been found to be highly successful because of the large amount of work that can be completed in just four or five days. Typically, 12 to 20 people are involved and usually divided into teams of three people. Because of the efficiency of camping or boarding close to the sites, 30 to 40 sites can be sampled throughout the week. Almost reaching the yearly monitoring goals for a single district on CNF. Another benefit of having a monitoring week is getting range and other inter-disciplinary professionals together in a central location. Invitations are sent out to ranchers, wildlife biologists, soil scientists, and hydrologists. This gives time to discuss concerns that they might have at the regional, forest, or district level. It brings together people from other areas as a team instead of just being counterparts in another district. Lastly, Monitoring Week is a lot of fun and a highlight of the year for many of us!
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.