Proceedings brand creation for a prescribed fire culture – utilizing key social media parameters. Lars Coleman*1, J. Kelly Hoffman1, Thomas McDaniel1, R. Patrick Bixler2, Urs P. Kreuter1, Morgan Russell3

The purpose of this Guide is to assist Southwest Region 3 Forest Service managers and livestock grazing permittees to work together to co-develop and implement a Drought Preparation Plan for a national forest livestock grazing permit. A Drought Preparation Plan identifies strategic, proactive livestock management practices that can be implemented ahead of time in order to increase management flexibility to respond and cope with possible future drought conditions. Planning ahead is essential because: 1) Region 3 Policy defines drought as a Standardized Precipitation Index value of minus 1 or lower (i.e. drought) which occurs on average 1 in 6 years, and; 2) new practices on national forests must first be approved by through the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) review process, which can often take several years to complete. This Guide uses a series of 6 simple worksheets to walk the two parties through a scenario planning process to: 1) understand drought impacts and assess their current and desired level of preparedness; 2) identify issues with preparation; 3) co-develop and prioritize proactive practices to resolve those issues, and 4) prepare to navigate through the NEPA review. The two parties are expected to then: implement NEPA-compliant, proactive practices before the next drought; select from a greater number of management options when responding to drought; then reassess drought impacts and preparation needs. Working together has the benefits of a shared vision and expectations, improved trust, co-learning, and more efficient management. The Guide is one output from a project funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Sectoral Applications Research Program (2014-2017) where researchers and extension professionals from the University of Arizona worked together with Forest Service manages and livestock grazing permittees from the Tonto National Forest to explore drought-related challenges to operating and administering livestock grazing permits in national forests. 

MULTISAR – EMPOWERING LANDOWNERS TO CONSERVE HABITAT FOR SPECIES AT RISK

MULTISAR is a multi-partner program that collaborates to conserve species at risk through voluntary habitat stewardship, while maintaining viable ranching operations in Alberta’s native grasslands. Our primary partners are landholders, the Prairie Conservation Forum, Alberta Conservation Association, Alberta Environment and Parks, Cows and Fish, Canadian Cattlemen’s Association, Canadian Round table for Sustainable Beef, and Alberta Beef Producers (sit on Advisory Team). Funding for MULTISAR is also provided by Environment Canada.

MULTISAR provides tools for landholders interested in conserving species at risk. A Habitat Conservation Strategy (HCS) is a detailed, in-depth and free customized ranch plan that balances healthy rangelands with quality wildlife habitat through grazing recommendations and habitat improvements. The process starts with a collaborative agreement between the landholder and MULTISAR and includes detailed wildlife surveys, range inventories, riparian health assessments, and information gathering on current management practices and ranch history. We start this process by overlaying a biophysical grassland dataset on the property. The Grassland Vegetation Inventory (GVI) is a comprehensive GIS product that represents Alberta's new vegetation inventory for the Grassland Natural Region of the province. GVI is comprised of ecological range sites based on soils information for areas of native vegetation and general land use for areas of non-native vegetation (i.e. agricultural, industrial, and residential developments). The GVI polygons form the basis on which all the ground surveys are built upon.
 
The results of the surveys conducted by Biologists, Agrologists, and Riparian Specialists are analyzed and compared with landowner knowledge to create a management plan unique to the property. In consultation with the landowner, recommendations are made that would empower them to maintain and/or enhance native grasslands and habitat that support species at risk.
 

YAVAPAI COUNTY NATIVE AND NATURALIZED PLANTS: A DATABASE FOR PLANT ENTHUSIASTS. Jeff W. Schalau*¹, Sue Smith²; ¹University of Arizona Cooperative Extension, Prescott, AZ, ²Yavapai County Master Gardener, Prescott, AZ

Yavapai County Native and Naturalized Plants (YCNNP, http://cals.arizona.edu/yavapaiplants) is a web-based plant database designed to assist everyday people in identifying native plants of Arizona’s Central Highlands Transition Zone. The website uses non-technical language instead of botanical terms, and features photographs showing plants at various times of year to capture seasonal differences in appearance. The YCNNP search function provides users a variety of searchable fields. Known data field information is entered and results return a series of thumbnail pictures to help narrow the search. Once a thumbnail is selected a variety of photos of that species are displayed allowing users to match the plant they saw in the field with the photo.  Detailed descriptions of each plant are also included. In September 2017, the YCNNP database included 786 plants (13 cacti, 507 forbs, 127 grasses, 65 shrubs, 65 trees, 6 succulents, and 3 vines). Yavapai County Master Gardener volunteer and native plant enthusiast, Sue Smith, is a retired web programmer and leads the project. Thirteen other Master Gardener volunteers and professionals have contributed photographs and populated the plant descriptions. At its launch in 2010, the YCNNP website had 75 plants and over 100 photos. The website is used by multiple educational institutions, agencies, and non-profit organizations and received 103,905 pageviews in 2016 (from Google Analytics). Yavapai County Master Gardeners continue adding plant photos and descriptions to the YCNNP database. Several requests for use of YCNNP photos are received each year. These are granted if the intended use is for educational purposes.

SAN FRANCISCO GOLD MINE IS TRAINING SOCIETY FOR RANGE RESOURCES CONSERVATION IN CENTRAL SONORA MEXICO. Salomon Moreno Medina*¹, Teodoro Ramos Estrada¹, Martha H. Martin Rivera¹, Fernando A. Ibarra-Flores¹, Fernando Jr. A. Ibarra-Martin¹, George A. Rasmussen², Rafael Retes Lopez³; ¹University of Sonora, Santa Ana, Mexico, ²Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX, ³University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico

ABSTRACT

Gold mining is an important activity for rural workers in Northwestern Sonora, Mexico. Mining is one of the top ten occupations with the greatest number of employees and income, but no data is available indicating what workers think about mining activities impact on the regions natural resources (rangelands and water). This study was conducted during 2014 in Estacion Llano Sonora, Mexico located at the San Francisco Mine. The objective was to understand what employees think about mining and its impact on society and surrounding natural resources. Three hundred surveys were sent to employees selected at random from the official list of the local mine. The number of surveys where determined to provide a 95% of confidence (P<0.05). Data obtained suggests that: Fifty five percent of the workers are 31 to 50 years old and employment from the mine was the main source of income in 68% of the household. The average income they get from the mine varies from $4,000 to $12,000.00 pesos a month. Income from other employment made up from $2,000 to $3,200 a month. All mine employees surveyed agreed that natural resources could be used for a livelihood, responding to: 26% water, 17% soils, 17% plants, 14% animals, 14% wood and charcoal and 12% seeds and fruits. Eighty percent of the workers received some type of natural resource training from the mine. Seventy percent recognize the company has invested money and efforts to train employees and their family members in range management for natural resource conservation. Examples of training they cited in the survey included water harvesting and conservation along with seed harvesting for range improvement practices, proper grazing strategies for cattle and reforestation. In conclusion, the training provided by the mine has improved the awareness of the local people for proper natural resource management.

EJIDATARIOS WILLINGNESS TO ESTABLISH HOME GARDENS FOR SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC IMPROVEMENT IN SANTAANA, SONORA, MEXICO. Fernando A. Ibarra-Flores*¹, Maribel Montoya-Juarez¹, Martha H. Martin Rivera¹, Salomon Moreno Medina¹, George A. Rasmussen², Rafael Retes Lopez³; ¹University of Sonora, Santa Ana, Mexico, ²Texas A&M University-Kingsville, Kingsville, TX, ³University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico

ABSTRACT

The economy of most ejidatarios in northern Mexico are struggling due to economic and social problems. As incomes, decline more pressure is usually put in the land leading to overuse of their range resources. This study was conducted at Ejido Santa Ana Viejo and Santa Martha aiming to monitor producers’ perception about the implementation of home gardens as means of food production, to promote family unity and to increase family income. Surveys were randomly applied to one hundred and ten ejidatarios during the summer of 2016. Descriptive statistics were the means for data analysis. Results show that 95% of small (cattle) farmers agreed to establish home gardens within their fields (60% men vs 40% women). Women showed the greater interest in participating in this project. Mothers believe that growing vegetables like tomatoes, chili, squash, carrots, onions, potatoes, radishes, okra and others in their backyards could reduce from 30 to 75% their expenditure in the purchase of these products. They believe that if three members of the family invested two hours of labor per day in this endeavor, it would be suffice to accomplish their goals. About 95% of surveyors underlined the low participation of children and teenagers in farming operation. They believe that excessive use of cell phones and tablets plus the time they spend in school, are affecting family behavior and every day it becomes more difficult to involve them in farming activities such as milking, cheese production, planting and irrigating forage feeds for grazing animals. Ninety five percent of the surveyors view this project as an ideal alternative to bring the family back together. We conclude that home gardens may provide an alternative income source to increase household stability. In addition, parents felt it could, promote family integration and in the future, better their social rangeland management.

EVOLUTION OF THE DIFFICULTY DEGREE OF THE SRM INTERNATIONAL RANGE PLANT IDENTIFICATION CONTEST
. Juan M. Martínez-Reyna*; Universidad Autónoma Agraria Antonio Narro, Saltillo, Coahuila, Mexico

ABSTRACT

The degree of difficulty of the Range Plant Identification Contest has varied over time. To show its evolution a scatter plot with the scores of the first three places per team was elaborated. Data were not complete for all years. For the period 1955-1980 data were obtained for 10 years and for the period 1981 to 2016 data were available for 34 years. There are three distinct stages marked by the years 1983 and 1999. In the stage of 1955 to 1982 the first three places had very similar scores and a reduced degree of dispersion is shown. The first place mean score was 97.89% and the difference between the first and third place means was 2.16 percentage points. In the second stage from 1983 to 1996, scores were reduced, the first place mean score decreased to 95.69%, which is very similar to the third place mean score in the previous stage. The difference between the first and third place mean score increased to 4.66 percentage points. Finally, in the stage from 1999 to 2016 there was a great reduction in the means and a greater dispersion of the grades was shown. The mean of the first place score, 91.99%, was very similar to that of the third place score of the second stage. The difference between first and third place, which was 8.43 percentage points, increased considerably when compared to those obtained in the previous stages. After analyzing the graph and observing the trend lines it becomes evident that the contest has increased its difficulty over time. This increase has been because of the changes on the Contest Rules as well as by the increase of more challenging specimens such as seedlings and barks

COMPARING DIFFERENT SMALL UNMANNED AERIAL SYSTEMS (SUAS) FOR RANGELAND MANAGEMENT. . Steve Petersen, Teresa Gomez, Grayson Morgan*, Ryan Jensen; Brigham Young University, Provo, UT

ABSTRACT

Small unmanned aerial systems (sUAS) have proven useful to identify and map vegetation species. Scientists and rangeland managers have access to a range of sUAS vehicles and sensors for quantifying rangeland environments.  This purpose of this study was to compare two sUAS, the DJI Phantom 4 with a Sentera Single Sensor NDVI camera and the 3DR Solo Quadcopter with Sony QX-1 RGB and NIR cameras, to determine which provides the most accurate data used in creating orthomosaic images. These images can then be processed to discriminate vegetation life forms (grasses, forbs, shrubs), individual plant species, or surface attributes (density, cover, percent bare-ground, litter). Image data were acquired over basin and range sites just west of Elko, Nevada. Flight missions were flown at 100ft above ground level using automated flight paths, and individual images were processed into an orthomosaic using Pix4D software. Processing the Phantom 4 data was more automated than processing 3DR Solo Data, reducing the number of steps and overall time required to complete the process. However, preliminary analysis suggests that there may be more spectral detail in the data acquired by the SONY QX-1 cameras flown on the 3DR Solo sUAS. E-cognition object-based image analysis was conducted on images from both sensors, and compared with spectral classification techniques. Preliminary results suggests the both platforms are effective in acquiring large datasets that can be processed into orthomosaics preparatory to additional image classification. With well-designed geolocation abilities, data collection and initial processing is simplified for images collected by the DJI Phantom 4. Therefore, while the DJI Phantom 4 provides easy and rapid image processing and analysis, the 3DR Solo provides high quality images in relation to spectral analysis. This information can help managers determine which drone will provide the most useful platform and products considering the type of monitoring or range assessment desired. 

SAMPLING PERIOD LENGTH NEEDED TO CHARACTERIZE CATTLE TERRAIN USE ON RUGGED RANGELAND

Terrain use and grazing distribution traits in cattle are difficult to evaluate because movement patterns are temporally variable due to ever changing climatic and forage conditions. Ongoing research suggests that terrain-use phenotypes can be inherited and potentially used in beef cattle genetic improvement programs. Terrain use can be monitored with GPS collars, but the length of tracking is constrained by battery life and on-site management plans. Cattle tracking studies have varied from days to months. The objective of this study was to determine if shorter, 30- to 60-day, sampling durations were as effective as a 3 month tracking periods for characterizing slope and elevation use, and vertical and horizontal distance traveled from water of individual cows. Fifteen Limousin cows from a herd of 250 cows were tracked at 15-minute intervals for 92 days during late winter and early spring in a 9,065 ha pasture that included both gentle and rugged terrain. Terrain use during 30- and 60-day periods at the beginning and end of the tracking were compared to the full 92-day period. Slope, elevation, and vertical and horizontal distance from water from the full sample period were regressed on values from the shorter data subsets and correlations were calculated between sampling periods for each pair of terrain use metrics. The 60-day periods showed strong agreement with the full 92-day period with correlation coefficients varying from 0.90 to 0.97 (P < 0.05). Correlations between 30-day periods and the 92-day period varied from 0.30 (P > 0.05) for distance to water during the early period to 0.90 to 0.93 (P < 0.05) for all traits during the late 30-day period. These preliminary analyses suggest that 2-month tracking periods are equivalent to 3-month tracking periods for identifying differences in terrain use among beef cows. 

A COLLABORATIVE APPROACH TO AIM IMPLEMENTATION ACROSS THE WEST

The Great Basin Institute (GBI), in partnership with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), has implemented the Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring (AIM) strategy to conduct ecological assessments of rangelands across the West. In 2011, this partnership began in Nevada and has since grown to include partnerships with Washington, Oregon, California, Idaho, Wyoming, and Utah. GBI-coordinated field crews work closely with BLM field and district offices to respond to needs of each BLM jurisdiction while maintaining consistency across states in terms of field protocols, study design, site selection, and data management. This approach has allowed collection of standardized data to inform land management concerns at multiple scales, ranging from local to west-wide. To ensure data integrity, GBI has developed a rigorous quality assurance and quality control methodology, which includes standardized supplemental training and use of a custom database application requiring crews to work closely with a data specialist. Moreover, final reports that include methodology and summary statistics provide an additional product to aid the BLM in land management decisions. GBI’s standardized approach to AIM protocol implementation produces consistent, comparable, and scalable rangeland data to characterize and monitor ecological trends. High quality data resulting from GBI/BLM AIM partnerships inform management decisions such as livestock grazing permit renewals and sage-grouse habitat conservation.

INTEGRATING CLIMATE DATA WITH RANGELAND MONITORING USING MYRAINGELOG. Ashley L. Hall*; University of Arizona, yuma, AZ

Precipitation is both highly spatially and temporally variable in Arizona, which adds a major challenge to decision-making for livestock allotments. MyRAINgeLog allows users to not only log precipitation observations but also track if the observation is above or below average for a specific time period and location. This information is critical to interpreting on the ground conditions and puts small-scale observations into a larger climatological context.  At two allotments in central Arizona, long-term precipitation data entered into MyRAINgeLog and paired with rangeland monitoring data. Information on the amount and timing of precipitation can be an important piece of the puzzle when interpreting changes in vegetation from year to year. After several years, an underlying relationship between vegetation changes and precipitation at each ranch will become more apparent. Understanding these fluctuations can help adapt management in years of drought. Ranchers can anticipate how vegetation might change with a decrease in precipitation based on prior years and adapt their management efforts. MyRAINgeLog combined with rangeland monitoring data, repeat photography, and records about management actions provide multiple tools for ranchers in developing an allotment specific drought management plan.

EFFECTIVE GRAZING USE MONITORING FOR PUBLIC LAND MEADOWS AND RIPARIAN AREAS

Mountain meadows and riparian areas provide essential summer forage for ranching operations in much of the west, but such areas also provide many other critical resources and ecosystem services. As such grazing use intensity on riparian areas remains a controversial issue particularly on public land grazing permits. Grazing monitoring programs are designed to help managers 1) assess the effectiveness of riparian grazing strategies; 2) adaptively manage grazing at the allotment or sub-allotment scale; and 3) demonstrate resource management outcomes to public stakeholders. While monitoring data is a valuable management tool, available staff and funding resources can be limited. To optimize the quality and quantity of grazing utilization data we seek to develop a template for monitoring riparian area grazing use on public lands. We present results from two years of data from a collaborative monitoring program involving the University, the Forest Service and stakeholders. A total of 74 study sites have been established on six National Forests and 34 different grazing allotments in California. Mean vegetative production of enrolled study sites was considerably higher in 2016 (3760 kg/ha) compared to 2015 (2776 kg/ha), while mean grazing intensity was only slightly greater in 2015.  We compare and discuss metrics related to common grazing standards including herbaceous utilization, browsing of woody vegetation, streambank stubble height, streambank disturbance (trampling), as well as livestock fecal load density. From the first to the second field season, mean length of time to collect end of season grazing use data decreased from 37 minutes to 25 minutes per site, perhaps signaling improved efficiency with greater experience in the protocol. Our results help guide public land managers and grazing permittees in the development of effective grazing use monitoring programs and understanding of grazing data.

RIPARIAN HEALTH ASSESSMENT: AN AWARENESS BUILDING AND RESTORATION MONITORING TOOL. Jennifer Caudron*¹, Carolyn Ross², Ross Adams³; ¹Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society "Cows and Fish", Edmonton, AB, ²Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society "Cows and Fish", Red Deer, AB, ³Alberta Riparian Habitat Management Society "Cows and Fish", Lethbridge, AB

Poster Title: Riparian Health Assessment: An Awareness Building and Restoration Monitoring Tool

IMPLEMENTING A MONITORING WEEK FOR CORONADO NATIONAL FOREST AND THE UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA COOPERATIVE EXTENSION. Kade P. Willardson*¹, Andrew Brischke², James Heitholt³; ¹University of Arizona, St. George, UT, ²University of Arizona, Kingman, AZ, ³USDA Forest Service, Tucson, AZ