Ensuring successful reclamation of rangelands after oil and gas development is a major challenge in ecosystem management, especially in areas experiencing rapid development as well as those inhabited by greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in western Colorado is addressing this challenge by gathering monitoring data at multiple scales to improve the reclamation management process. In 2011, data collection of core terrestrial indicators began across BLM lands in the White River Field Office. Indicator estimates for different types of land across the broader landscape 1) provide baseline information about ecosystem conditions and variability and 2) help land managers set realistic and achievable objectives for reclamation. We also developed and piloted the collection of the terrestrial core indicators within reclaimed areas, including modifications to plot arrangement to accommodate different pad and pipeline shapes. We demonstrate that monitoring of reclaimed areas using standardized methodology can be used to verify that objectives and reclamation success criteria have been achieved. Disturbance and reclamation data will be tracked through an innovative data management system developed in partnership with the USGS. This effort represents a promising avenue forward for promoting reclamation success in an area with critical sage-grouse habitat, while also supporting many other ecosystem management applications.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.