Wildfire is one of the main threats to the conservation of sagebrush steppe plant communities. Annually wildfires burn approximately 7.2 million acres of rangelands and average $1.5 billion in suppression costs in the past decade. Fires degrade wildlife habitat and threaten the livelihood of livestock producers. Preservation of sagebrush dominated communities is imperative and this may include fuels management.� However, because of the spatial extent of sagebrush rangelands, grazing is likely the only feasible treatment to manage fuels effectively. We investigated the effect of season of grazing (spring grazing, fall grazing, and no grazing) with moderate utilization on fuel characteristics and fire ignitibility and spread during the active wildfire season (June � August). Grazing by cattle reduced fine fuel continuity and increased fuel moisture by reducing senescent herbaceous material. Ignitibility and spread was greater in the no grazing treatment compared with both grazing treatments.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.