Great Basin Environmental Program

A Multi-state Partnership to Improve Land Health and Ecosystem Productivity

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    • Establishment of Forb Islands to Enhance Biodiversity
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    • Cheatgrass in the Basin and Range: Threat and Opportunity
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Invasive Species and the Ecology of the Great Basin: Current Policies, the Economy, Sage Grouse Populations and other Indicators of the Environmental Condition

May 5, 2015 by Bob

  • April 20. 2015, 11:00 am to 1:00 pm
  • House Committee Room 421, Cannon Office Building
  • Organized by Scott Cameron, President

Reduce Risks from Invasive Species Coalition

(lunch for the first 40 attendees)

Scott Cameron, Moderator (11:00 – 11:10)

Invasive Species and the Deteriorating Condition of the Great Basin (11:10 – 11:30)

Bill Payne, Dean, College of Agriculture, Biotechnology and Natural Resources (CABNR), University of Nevada, Reno

We are currently losing the fight to limit and reduce invasive species in the Great Basin.  Cheatgrass, pinyon pine, juniper, medusahead and other invasive species now are prevalent in the Great Basin.  Federal efforts to limit these species have proven insufficient in part because inadequate policy.  The failure to effectively address invasive species has implications and negative economic impacts on wildlife habitat, on rural agriculture-based communities, and on urban communities in the Great Basin and beyond.  We need new approaches and greater flexibility to address invasive species and associated issues, including the reduction of large and severe wildland fires, and high yet still rising costs of fire suppression, restoration of degraded lands, and the destruction of livestock forage and key wildlife habitat.

Ecological Costs of the Status Quo (11:30 – 11:50) 

Barry Perryman, Professor, CABNR, University of Nevada, Reno

Contemporary management scenarios have given rise to cheatgrass proliferation in the Intermountain West. Targeted grazing management by domestic livestock offers one of the best and most efficient tools for managing very large public landscapes, private lands and the habitat of sensitive species that traditionally have lived in these areas.

Kirk Davies, Chad Boyd and Tony Svejcar, USDA – ARS, Burns, Oregon (11:50 – 12:10)

The factors influencing vegetation (and thus habitat) in the sagebrush-steppe have changed dramatically in the past 100 years. There is clear evidence that the introduction of invasive species such as cheatgrass and medusahead has changed the way plant communities function and increased fire risk. Projections of future climate suggest fire risk will continue to increase over time. Informed management will play a key role in mitigating the loss of native plant communities in the future.

Sage-Grouse and Sagebrush Steppe Management (12:10 – 12:30)

Sherm Swanson, Associate Professor, CABNR, University of Nevada, Reno

Dry summers force sage grouse broods onto private and public riparian meadows where chicks grow into adults.  Riparian grazing management works best with recovery periods, creating green moist fuel breaks. Well placed mechanical fuel breaks usually increase perennials needed to resist cheatgrass and other invasive species. Properly managed grazing helps upland perennials survive, even in fires.  Wild and free-roaming horse habitats depend on maintaining herds at appropriate levels.  Otherwise, herds and costs grow exponentially as habitats permanently degrade. So, good things happen when managers manage.

Panel discussion (12:30 – 1:00)

Filed Under: News

About

The Great Basin Environmental Program is a bold and innovative land-based environmental management initiative similar in concept to 25 other estuarial environmental programs that have been operating in the United States since the approval of the Clean Water Act.

New Grant Fom The PLC

The Public Lands Council has agreed to a study of cattle numbers and feed sources in the Basin and Range Region. The grant is for approximately $105K for conducting the analysis, providing the data to the Public Lands Council and writing a final report. The start date is October 1, 2017 with a conclusion of the project one year later. The analysis will start with budgets from the land grant institutions in the Region and then involve leveraging these budgets and to the larger Basin and Range Region selected for the study. In the process of our analysis we will investigate the economic impacts for the local communities, implications for fuel load reduction of and wildfires, adjusting the cattle numbers for grazing conditions reflecting cheatgrass or annual grasses in addition to perennials, and scoring for investments in cattle and ranchers benefits compared to fire loss. Read more.

  • About
  • Summary
  • Results
  • Partners
  • Organizational Structure
  • Documents
  • Contact Us

An At-Risk Ecosystem

The GBEP is the first program for a land-based area -- the Great Basin, one of the important at-risk ecosystems in the nation, comprising parts of Nevada, Utah, Idaho, Oregon and California. Seventy percent of the land in the Great Basin is publicly managed.

Funding Allocation

* 70% for on-the-ground projects
* 25% for research and education, including monitoring, mapping and metrics development
* 5% for administration and communication of metrics

Focus: Invasive Plant Species

* Wildfires
* Water Resources and Conservation
* Land Use and Health

* Urban, Rural Wildlands Mosaic
* Sustainable Communities and Their Cultures
* Biodiversity

Contact

Bill Payne, Dean
775-784-6237
College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources
University of Nevada / MS 222
Reno, NV 89557

Stan Johnson
775-784-1678
College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources
University of Nevada / MS 222
Reno, NV 89557

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