Rangeland Ecology & Management

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SCIENCE BASED MANAGEMENT: USING THE BLM�S AIM STRATEGY TO MONITOR FUELS AND VEGETATION MANAGEMENT PROJECTS
Author
Addy, Casey P.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

As catastrophic wildfires continue to increase in size and frequency across the American West, fuels and vegetation management projects are quickly becoming first priority for BLM and other land management agencies. Science based monitoring of treatment effectiveness should be an intricate part of any fuels or vegetation management project. Currently, a general lack of consistency exists within the BLM for monitoring and reporting effectiveness of vegetation management projects (especially at the national level). Other variables such as standard processes for field site selection, methodologies for data collection, and interpretation and use of vegetation monitoring data varies drastically across BLM district and field offices. These inconsistencies create a large web of data that is inaccessible and unusable outside of the local field office. The BLM AIM Strategy solves many of these problems within the BLM by providing a standardized framework for sample design, monitoring, storage, and interpretation and reporting of monitoring data. The AIM Strategy has been successfully used on several pilot vegetation management projects in Utah. These projects can be used as case studies on how the AIM Strategy can be successfully used for monitoring effectiveness of fuels and vegetation management.

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