Land Management

USGS and Colorado State University researchers are conducting analyses and predictions of sagebrush recovery in the Great Basin and Wyoming and assess the role of weather, soils, and reseeding treatments.

This interdisciplinary project combines expert judgment on treatment costs with spatially explicit ecological modeling to estimate the financial resources needed to address the threat of invasive annual grass across the entire sagebrush biome. Results of the assessment will provide economic insights that can inform cost-effective resource allocation to efficiently achieve sagebrush conservation...

Public lands provide many important resources, values, and uses to the American people. For example, many lands offer abundant recreational opportunities while also conserving habitat for iconic wildlife species and delivering stunning scenic views. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages the largest area of public lands in the United States and is committed to using science to inform their...

Through a collaborative effort with multiple state and federal agencies, university researchers, and individual stakeholders, we are producing a set of predictive seasonal habitat maps for greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus) spanning the entirety of the species’ U.S. distribution. This is the largest habitat modeling effort of its kind for the species and uses a large, compiled...

FORT aquatic scientists analyze rings of riparian trees relating tree growth and establishment to historical flow. They then use the tree rings to reconstruct the flow in past centuries. Flow reconstructions discover the frequency and magnitude of past droughts and floods—information that is essential for management of rivers and water supplies. They have pioneered the use of cottonwood, a...

FORT scientists study interactions among river flow, riparian vegetation and channel change at low elevations across the western United States. Cooperators include the National Park Service, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and Bureau of Reclamation. Research areas include reservoir management, control of invasive species, drought response and flood erosion after fires...

FORT scientists established a Common Garden at the Colorado State Forest Service Nursery in Fort Collins, Colorado in 2005 to study the phenology of riparian cottonwood in relation to annual variation in temperature. Phenology is the seasonal timing of life history events including leaf opening, flowering, seed release, bud formation and leaf senescence.

Agricultural land use accounts for over 50 percent of the surface area of the contiguous United States. How these lands are managed has direct and indirect implications for wildlife, water quality, and air quality in terrestrial, aquatic, and marine ecosystems locally and far beyond their extent. This project is focused on ways to greater maximize the potential of the US Department of Agriculture...

The Southwest Montana Sagebrush Partnership (SMSP) team, including land managers, landowners, and scientists, is implementing conifer removal projects encompassing over 55,000 acres of private, state, and federal lands throughout the region. To date, little place-based information exists regarding likely vegetation and bird responses to such treatments in Southwestern Montana. To address this...

Invasive annual grasses are spreading across the sagebrush ecosystem, threatening the survival of native plant species and the wildlife habitats they support. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado State University, University of Wyoming, the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service are collaboratively investigating the factors that...

Researchers at USGS are using historical wild horse survey and monitoring records to conduct a study of horse density across sagebrush ecosystems of the western United States. Researchers will develop generalized density maps for the species that will enhance concurrent evaluations into the ecological effects of wild horse populations.

Invasive annual grasses, facilitated by a range of disturbances, are invading many areas within the sagebrush biome. Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, Colorado State University, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Bureau of Land Management are investigating which non-fire disturbances are most associated with the spread of invasive grasses. The findings from this study could guide...