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SAGEBRUSH: FROM MANAGING A "WEED" TO RESTORING AN ECOSYSTEM.
Author
Pellant, Mike L.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2017
Body

In 1848 early Intermountain explorer John Freemont portrayed the valleys in the Great Basin as �sterile� and characterized this landscape as, �...no wood, no water, no grass, the gloomy artemisia the prevailing shrub...�. �This unenthusiastic perception of big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) continued through the first half of the 21st century as land managers struggled to reduce the dominance of sagebrush, frequently described as a weed, and increase desirable herbaceous grasses. �The pendulum changed direction in the 1970�s with the passage of several environmental laws and a growing recognition of the ecological values of sagebrush. Increasing losses of sagebrush due to wildfires and cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum) contributed to a change in management priorities away from removing to restoring sagebrush across the Great Basin. � �The majority of sagebrush applied by the Bureau of Land Management is aerially seeded the fall or winter following a wildfire. �Using this technique, large acreages can be economically seeded yielding variable results. �In general, marginal results are more common in the lower elevation Wyoming big sagebrush biome. Establishment is improved when using ground-based seeding equipment that firms the seedbed and utilizing local seed sources. �Another challenge is prioritizing burned areas for sagebrush seeding given the increase in rangeland mega-fires and management emphasis on conserving and restoring Greater Sage-Grouse habitat. �A landscape scale procedure (Fire and Invasive Assessment Tool) was developed by the management agencies and the research community to prioritize post-fire rehabilitation in Greater Sage-Grouse habitat using resistance to invasive annual grasses and resilience after disturbance concepts.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM St. George, UT
Collection
SRM Annual Meeting Abstracts