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

We have learned to apply state and transition concepts to prioritize objectives for rangeland management. In riparian areas, integrated riparian management begins with riparian proper functioning condition assessment to locate functional at risk conditions. Important resource values such as sage-grouse late-brood-rearing habitat aid in prioritizing objectives. To apply management of mixed use by wild horses and permitted cattle, managers must work together to understand the questions: Are lentic riparian areas at risk of losing riparian functions needed to sustain forage for horses, cattle, and sage-grouse? If so, what is it about current conditions and management that puts specific areas and riparian functions at risk? Is managed grazing useful for stimulating optimum forb diversity, abundance, and phenology for sage-grouse chicks? Are grazing issues best understood through intensity, duration, or season of use? Are duration and season of recovery periods useful riparian management tools for wild and free-roaming horses? If we are to sustain lentic riparian areas for forage and habitat using adaptive management, how should they be efficiently monitored? To address these questions we assessed riparian functional conditions and adapted draft Bureau of Land Management lentic monitoring and Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) methods to study lentic areas in priority sage-grouse habitat and herd management areas in many different allotments.  Methods emphasized the greenline (thalweg) where water flow and erosion issues are most likely. We hypothesize that allotments and herd management areas where large animal use periods in lentic riparian areas are short and varied in season, or where the amount of riparian use is only moderate will have less risk and better sage-grouse habitat. 

INITIAL INVESTIGATIONS INTO MOVEMENT PATTERNS AND RANGELAND IMPACTS OF WILD HORSES IN WYOMING’S RED DESERT. Jacob D. Hennig*, John D. Scasta, Jeffrey L. Beck; University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY

Information concerning the spatial ecology of free-roaming horses and burros in the United States is severely lacking. Better understanding movement patterns and resource selection of wild equids is critical for improving management of these controversial animals. To improve such knowledge, we initiated a GPS-tracking project on wild horses in the Red Desert of Wyoming. In 2017, we fit 30 adult mares with GPS collars in the Adobe Town Herd Management Area (HMA) of southcentral Wyoming. The Adobe Town HMA has an area of 1,295 m2 (500 mi2) that contains large swaths of private land and crucial habitat for multiple wildlife species. This area is characterized as high-elevation desert, restricted by precipitation and includes sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) and saltbush (Atriplex spp.) communities, and juniper (Juniperus spp.) dominated ridges. Here we present preliminary data on daily movement rates, mean home ranges, and utilization distributions of wild horses in the Red Desert. We discuss how utilization distributions overlap with sociopolitical boundaries such as private land, neighboring HMAs, adjacent states, and important wildlife habitat. We present additional findings on how vegetation structure and composition changes along a gradient of horse utilization. We also discuss future directions of our project, which includes an examination of horse impacts on sympatric wildlife and livestock species and how horse home ranges and movement patterns may shift in response to removal gathers.

WILD HORSES, LIVESTOCK, AND WILDLIFE USE OF SPRINGS AND RIPARIAN AREAS ON THE DEVIL'S GARDEN. Laura K. Snell*¹, David Lile², Roger Baldwin³; ¹University of California, Alturas, CA, ²UCCE, Susanville, CA, ³University of California, Davis, CA

In Modoc County, located in northeastern California there is a unique rangeland area heavily populated by wild horses and managed primarily by US Forest Service known as the Devil's Garden. Wild Horses have significantly exceeded appropriate management levels in recent years and expanded their range outside of the herd management area and on to private and tribal lands. This increase has prompted concern about resource degradation particularly associated with spring areas. In otherwise arid sage steppe rangelands springs provide critical watering sources as well as wildlife habitat for sage grouse, deer, elk, pronghorn, and other wildlife.  Our objective is to quantify the relative frequency, duration, and timing of use by horses, permitted livestock, and wildlife at spring locations. In turn, we assess to what extent there is competition between species for watering sites. We also correlate how varying levels of horse and/or livestock use affects spring site vegetation and riparian health standards.  Ten representative study locations were selected on the Devil’s Garden and motion sensitive cameras were deployed at each location for 14-day sampling periods during the spring, summer and fall of 2015-2017. All photos were visually assessed to record species present, number of each species, and the time, date, and location of the observation. We present preliminary occupancy data, as well as results of corresponding vegetative cover, plant community, and bank alteration sampling. Implications for management and on-going research are discussed.  

DRIVERS OF VEGETATION CHANGE IN HORSE MANAGEMENT AREAS IN THE GREAT BASIN. Brittany S. Barker*¹, David S. Pilliod¹, Collin Homer²; ¹US Geological Survey, Boise, ID, ²USGS, Boise, ID

Sagebrush ecosystems in the Great Basin have experienced extensive degradation from exotic invasive plants, altered fire frequency, urban development, climate change, and grazing practices. Feral horses may also negatively influence these ecosystems, but their ecological impact has been investigated in only a handful of studies. We compared vegetation change through time inside and outside of horse management areas (HMAs) in the northwestern corner of the Great Basin by analyzing sagebrush vegetation and soil components derived from Landsat imagery (1985–2016) together with historic (1977–1982; Soil Vegetation Inventory Method) and recent (2011–2016; Assessment Inventory and Monitoring) field plot data collected by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). Preliminary results suggest that BLM allotments inside of HMAs had a higher abundance of bare ground and a lower abundance of herbaceous and sagebrush cover compared to allotments outside of HMAs across all years. Decreases in bare ground in certain years were accompanied by corresponding increases in herbaceous cover across all allotments. We found significant decreases in the prevalence and proportion cover of native functional groups, and significant increases of exotic functional groups, both inside and outside of HMAs. However, increases of exotic functional groups were particularly large inside of HMAs. We identified the potential drivers (e.g., fires, climatic shifts, grazing, and feral horse and burro use) of observed vegetation changes with multivariate models. This research will provide insight into the causal factors of ecological change in the Great Basin and can inform decisions regarding management of HMAs.

THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN FREE-ROAMING HORSES AND PRONGHORN POPULATIONS IN RIPARIAN AREAS OF NORTHWESTERN NEVADA
. Steven L. Petersen*¹, Amy J. Gooch¹, Gail H. Collins²; ¹Brigham Young University, Provo, UT, ²US Fish and National Wildlife Service, Lakeview, OR

ABSTRACT

Free-roaming horses (Equus ferus caballus) require consistent surface water to sustain healthy herds throughout the arid and semi-arid regions of western North America. Understanding the influence of horses on riparian habitats and associated wildlife populations is critical for establishing appropriate horse and riparian habitat management strategies. The purpose of this study is to quantify the spatial distribution of free-roaming horses across a sagebrush ecosystem, and to characterize the interaction between horses and pronghorn (Antilocapra americana) within limited riparian areas. This study was conducted at the Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge, located in northwest Nevada. Twelve mares were collared representing 10 bands using Lotek 3300 GPS collars and tracked between 3-24 months. Coordinate data acquired from each collar was used to determine the amount of time horses spent at water sources in relation to time spent traveling within band home-ranges. The behavioral response of pronghorn when horses were present was compared to pronghorn behavior when horses were absent. A behavioral ethogram for pronghorn was created consisting of 166 observation sessions, 492 hours of observation, and 12,186 instances of pronghorn behavior. For every 1m increase in distance from horses, pronghorn foraging increased by 0.6%. Most (>70%) of horse-pronghorn interactions were negative. In areas with limited water availability, constructive horse management is critical for protecting riparian habitats and assessing potential pronghorn impacts. 

EFFECTS OF FERAL HORSES ON SOILS AND VEGETATION IN SAGEBRUSH AND RIPARIAN COMMUNITIES. Chad S. Boyd*¹, Kirk W. Davies²; ¹USDA-ARS, Burns, OR, ²USDA - Agricultural Research Service, Burns, OR

Feral horses (Equus caballus) are a non-native grazer in North America, South America, and Australia that are relatively unmanaged.  This has led to concern about their potential to damage natural resources.  Information about their influence on vegetation and soil characteristics in semi-arid rangelands and riparian areas has been limited by confounding effects of grazing by livestock and a lack of empirical manipulative studies.  We compared plant community and soil surface characteristics in feral horse grazed areas and ungrazed exclosures at five sagebrush (Artemisia) steppe and riparian communities in northern Nevada.  In the sagebrush steppe, horse grazed areas had lower sagebrush density and plant diversity, greater soil surface compaction, and lower soil aggregate stability compared to ungrazed areas.  In the riparian communities, feral horse grazed areas had 7-fold greater bare ground, reduced litter and visual obstruction, and increased rush density compared to ungrazed areas.  The cumulative effect of feral horses on soil characteristics in uplands suggests that they may negatively affect ecological function by increasing the risk of soil erosion and potentially decreasing availability of water for plant growth.  The two-fold increase in sagebrush density with horse exclusion suggests that feral horses may limit sagebrush recruitment and thereby negatively impact greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) and other sagebrush-associated wildlife.  The greater bare ground in horse grazed riparian areas increases the risk of erosion, and subsequently stream channel incising, and susceptibility to exotic plant invasion.  The effects of feral horses on native ecosystems should be considered when developing conservation plans for these ecosystems and associated wildlife. 

RIPARIAN AND STREAM CHANNEL DYNAMICS: HORSES, COWS AND WILDFIRE IMPACTS. Tamzen K. Stringham*; Univ. Nevada Reno, Reno, NV

Wild horses and domesticated livestock can have direct and indirect effects on the structure and composition of riparian areas and the hydrologic function of the associated ecosystem.  In arid regions, where water is limiting, riparian areas often become the focal point for land managers.  Quantifying the direct impacts from the individual user groups of wild horses versus domesticated livestock within a co-mingled allotment is difficult and further complicated by the variability in annual weather and natural disasters.  In 2011, we began a case study to determine the effect of an off-site water installation on livestock use of a nearby riparian area dominated by an ephemeral channel.  Complicating the study design was the present of approximately 500 wild horses, 350 over the established allotment management level.  Further, complications occurred in August 2012 when the upper watershed burned necessitating a change in livestock management for the next two years.  Data will be presented documenting riparian vegetation and stream channel dynamics from 2009 through 2015 in the presence of livestock and wild horse grazing, livestock removal, wildfire and flash floods.  The story is insightful and thought provoking.

UTILIZATION OF SPRINGS AND RIPARIAN AREAS BY WILD HORSES, LIVESTOCK, AND WILDLIFE ON THE TWIN PEAKS HERD MANAGEMENT AREA.

The Twin Peaks Herd Management Area for wild horses and burros in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada has exceeded appropriate management levels in recent years.  The steady rise in horse and burro population has prompted resource concerns relating to wildlife, range and riparian health standards, and high priority sage grouse habitat. Concentrated use of water and green forage around spring areas by horses, livestock, and native wildlife continues to be a controversial issue, and there have been relatively few examples successfully quantifying relative use by various grazers in the sage steppe ecosystem.  The study objective is to quantify the relative frequency, duration, and timing of use by horses, permitted livestock, and wildlife at spring locations and associated use levels. Nine representative spring sites within the Twin Peaks HMA were established as study locations in the summer of 2015. Motion sensitive cameras were deployed at each location for 14-day sampling periods during the spring, summer and fall of 2015-2017. Vegetative use including stubble height and bank trampling was collected concurrently. Photos are visually assessed to record species present, number of each species, and the time, date, and location of the observation.  Six of the nine spring areas include spring/riparian exclosure fencing adjacent to the study site allowing a comparison of grazed and ungrazed areas. Implications for management are discussed. 

HISTORICAL SOUTHEASTERN RANGELANDS. Reed F. Noss*; Florida Institute for Conservation Science, Chuluota, FL

Native grasslands of various types were once abundant in the southeastern United States ("the South"), but have declined so much that even many ecologists have not recognized their existence. Only by understanding how these communities came into being, how they waxed and waned over time, and what factors maintained them, can we establish a scientifically sound basis for conserving and restoring these ecosystems today and into the future. As defined here, native grasslands of the South include treeless prairies, mountaintop balds, savannas and woodlands, barrens, glades, outcrops, and canebrakes. Longleaf pine savannas were matrix communities across most of the southeastern Coastal Plain, whereas most other grassland types occurred as patches of various sizes within a forest matrix. Paleoecological evidence shows existence of savannas similar to today's millions of years ago, in the Miocene or earlier. The high degree of species endemism in these grasslands, especially in the Coastal Plain and including many ancient taxa, provides further evidence of antiquity. The rate of endemism is high enough that the Coastal Plain is now recognized as a global biodiversity hotspot. Fire is a dominant ecological process in most southeastern grasslands, with this region having the highest lightning incidence in the United States. Many plant species, today and in the past, show fire-adaptive traits and depend on fire for their existence. Many other southeastern grasslands were edaphic, restricted to unusual substrates such as highly calcareous, saline, serpentine, shrink-swell, or shallow soils. Fire is rare in some of these communities. Large herbivores were probably very important in maintaining many southeastern grassland types in the past, with herbivores probably interacting with fire much like in the Great Plains. Conserving and restoring both natural and semi-natural grasslands, large and small, is a high priority in this region.

SOUTHEASTERN RANGELANDS - STATE OF THE STATE. . Dwayne Estes*; Southeastern Grassland Initiative, Clarksville, TN

ABSTRACT

The greatest threat to eastern North American biodiversity is the loss of eastern grasslands, especially those found in the southern states. Prior to European settlement, grasslands (including savannas, prairies, barrens, glades, balds, meadows, and several types of open wetlands and riparian grasslands) and open grassy woodlands once rivaled forests in their coverage of the southeastern U.S. landscape. Conservatively, more than 100 million acres of these "naturally open" vegetation types once existed from Maryland and Missouri south to the Gulf of Mexico. Fire suppression, overgrazing, conversion to row-crop agriculture, hydrologic changes, and development, among other factors, has led to the loss of more than 90 percent of the South's historic grasslands. Similarly, many of the open woodlands, whose understories would have been grassy and provided forage for native herbivores as well as cattle and other livestock, have become dense due to many decades of fire suppression. Today, the South's grasslands exist in three states of conservation. First, a very small number of types associated with rocky or inaccessible sites (e.g. Appalachian Plateau riverscour barrens, Blue Ridge grass balds) are likely similar in their present composition and acreage to pre-settlement times with >75% of original acreage still intact. Second, are the formerly vast network of oak and pine savannas that have become closed woodland or forest. More than 90% of savannas have been lost but several success stories indicate these may be our most easily restorable grassland systems. Third, are the millions of acres of former open, nearly treeless prairies that now represent extinct ecosystems. These have experienced near total losses exceeding 99.99%. Each case will require different restoration and management strategies. A review of the major grassland systems of the Southeast is presented along with a discussion of their conservation needs both in the short-term and long-term.

VALUE OF SOUTHERN RANGELANDS FOR NORTHERN BOBWHITE AND OTHER GRASSLAND BIRDS. Jef Hodges*; National Bobwhite Conservation Initiative, Clinton, MO

ABSTRACT

The northern bobwhite is an iconic species of the southeastern United States. Southern rangelands are considered important for nearly one third of the range-wide population of northern bobwhites. Across southern rangelands bobwhites have experienced a long-term (since 1970) average decline of 92% with the current short-term (2004-2014) decline average of 6.3%. Loss of grasslands through conversion to non-native monotypic species and unmanaged savannas becoming closed canopy woodlands have contributed to the decline of northern bobwhites. Recent efforts which have established native grasses and forbs to large landscapes and thinning and burning of pine stands resulting in re-establishing herbaceous ground cover, have resulted in increased bobwhite populations along with a suite of other grassland and scrub birds. Efforts are underway in both grasslands and pine savannas to expand on current successes.

LESSONS FROM FLORIDA - IMPORTANCE OF RECOGNIZING RANGELANDS IN THE SOUTHEAST. Sid Brantly*¹, Charles Kneuper²; ¹Landowner, Sharpsburg, KY, ²USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Temple, TX

ABSTRACT

There is similarity among U. S. Department of Agriulture agencies with regard to the definition of rangeland in the United States.  There are subtle differences, but none of those definitions expressly exclude the mesic or semi-tropical eastern portion of the country.  The 2014 National Resources Inventory (NRI) Rangeland Resources Assessment (USDA Natural Reources Conservation Service) defines rangeland as a land cover/use category on which the climax or potential plant cover is composed principally of native grasses, grasslike plants, forbs, or shrubs suitable for grazing and browsing, and introduced forage species that are managed like rangeland.  This would include areas where introduced hardy and persistent grasses, such as crested wheatgrass, are planted and such practices as deferred grazing, burning, chaining, and rotational grazing are used, with little or no chemicals or fertilizer being applied.  Grasslands, savannas, many wetlands some deserts, and tundra are considered rangeland.  Certain communities of low forbs and shrubs, such as mesquite, chaparral, mountain shrub, and pinyon-juniper, are also included as rangeland.

This definition is virtually unchanged in the NRI definitions back as far as 19987.  The definitions by NIFA (National Institute for Food and Agricculture), ARS (Agriculture Research Service), and SRM are similar, with a number of alternative examples in the latter portion of the definition.  None of the differences exclude eastern rangeland.  A number of state and regional resource documents desribe as much as seven to ten million acres across the Eastern United States as grasslands and in excess of one hundred million acres of historical savanna types that could potentially be restored to rangeland.  This paper for symposium presentation examines some of the federal significance in terms of technical and financial assistance that might be made possible with administrative recognition of these rangeland acreages by NRCS.     

OVERVIEW OF THE SOUTHEASTERN GRASSLANDS INITIATIVE AND A CALL FOR ACTION. Dwayne Estes*; Southeastern Grassland Initiative, Clarksville, TN

The southeastern U.S. is not known as a major grassland region. Its grasslands largely disappeared two centuries ago. Today’s remnant savannas, prairies, glades, barrens, balds, and wet grasslands (bogs, fens, meadows, marshes) are vestiges of a bygone era.  Many are threatened by fire suppression, habitat loss, invasive species, and climate change. In spite of occupying less than one percent of the land area, Southeastern grasslands harbor a disproportionate percentage of the nation’s grassland biodiversity. As grasslands continue to fade, the effects of ecological collapse are becoming clear. Without a paradigm shift and intervention, hundreds of species face functional or complete extinction. A stark realization is setting in that past and current conservation efforts aren’t enough to address the myriad threats facing Southern grasslands. A new visionary approach is needed to re-think conservation on a big-scale. The Southeastern Grasslands Initiative (SGI), based out of Austin Peay State University (Clarksville, Tennessee), aims to establish itself as a clearinghouse to focus priorities in on-the-ground conservation and research for grasslands across a 21-state region. The SGI will employ a multi-faceted approach that combines restoration, preservation, re-creation, research, rescue, seedbanking, education, and market-driven strategies. Re-classifying many Southeastern areas as rangeland would go a long way toward benefitting grassland conservation in the Southeast. The SGI’s long-term goal is to become a granting organization whereby we offer grants related to the eight strategies above to facilitate conservation at a scale not presently possible. Such an ambitious endeavor requires major funding. We are currently working with and seeking support from private philanthropic foundations, corporations, non-profit conservation organizations, and government agencies. To learn more about SGI please check out www.segrasslands.org. 

WEEDY NATIVE SPECIES AND THE CONTRADICTIONS SURROUNDING THEM. Merilynn Schantz*; Red Rock Resources LLC, Miles City, MT