Rangeland Ecology & Management

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DEFENSIBLE DATA: MAKING GRAZING MANAGEMENT DECISIONS IN THE 21ST CENTURY
Author
Zvirzdin, Daniel
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Since in the late 20th century, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has struggled to make grazing management decisions in a timely manner. This has hampered the BLMs ability to fulfill its mission: to sustain the health, diversity, and productivity of the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations. Although BLM regulations and federal laws and policies guiding grazing management have remained largely constant since the turn of the century, steady litigation has progressively slowed the grazing decision process. One liability common to many cases is the quality of BLM monitoring data. In an effort to improve data quality and make better informed decisions, the BLM adopted the Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) program. In the last five years, the AIM program has been a primary driver in improving the defensibility of the data the BLM collects. Perhaps as important as this direct effect, the fundamental changes AIM brought to the BLM monitoring program have given specialists within the BLM the perspective necessary to identify and address other weaknesses in the grazing decision process.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV