FRESC 2016 SageSTEP field crew selfie

The 2016 SageSTEP field crew.  They are collecting vegetation monitoring data at SageSTEP's (Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project) Moses Coulee site.  SageSTEP is a regional experiment evaluating methods of sagebrush steppe restoration in the Great Basin. Sagebrush communities have been identified as one of the most threatened land types in North America, and as much as half of this land type has already been lost in the Great Basin. From 2005-2010, fuels treatments were implemented at study sites and SageSTEP scientists began looking at the short-term effects of land management options on a variety of ecosystem components. In 2011, we began a long-term monitoring phase of the project to better understand the changes in response to treatment over time. Research results are being used to provide resource managers with information to make restoration management decisions with reduced risk and uncertainty.