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Map of Oregon and Nevada shaded by Core and Growth Opportunity Sagebrush Areas
Oregon and Nevada Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscape
Oregon and Nevada Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscape
Oregon and Nevada Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscape

Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes capture over a third of the remaining intact Core Sagebrush Areas across the sagebrush biome.

Map of Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Utah, Nevada, and Oregon shaded by core and growth opportunity sagebrush conservation areas
Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes
Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes
Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes

Sagebrush Collaborative Restoration Landscapes capture over a third of the remaining intact Core Sagebrush Areas across the sagebrush biome.



Layer Sources

Two people plant seeds in a greenhouse experiment
Greenhouse experiment
Greenhouse experiment
Greenhouse experiment

Kevin Coronado (Bureau of Indian Affairs intern, left) and Sarah Costanzo (USGS, right) monitor soil moisture in the seed coat greenhouse experiment.

Kevin Coronado (Bureau of Indian Affairs intern, left) and Sarah Costanzo (USGS, right) monitor soil moisture in the seed coat greenhouse experiment.

Small seeds coated with a blue seed coat in a petri dish above greenhouse pots
Native grass seed coats ready for planting
Native grass seed coats ready for planting
Native grass seed coats ready for planting

Sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus) seeds coated with a hydrophobic seed coat designed to delay germination being planted in the Northern Arizona University research greenhouse. Photo by Sarah Costanzo (USGS).

Sand dropseed (Sporobolus cryptandrus) seeds coated with a hydrophobic seed coat designed to delay germination being planted in the Northern Arizona University research greenhouse. Photo by Sarah Costanzo (USGS).

A picture with three people in a greenhouse
Students transplant native grasses
Students transplant native grasses
Students transplant native grasses

Implementing the Seed Strategy creates jobs and provides career-building opportunities for students and early career professionals.

Implementing the Seed Strategy creates jobs and provides career-building opportunities for students and early career professionals.

A person in an orange construction vest sits on a rocky outcrop in Glacier National Park
Monitoring in Glacier National Park
Monitoring in Glacier National Park
Monitoring in Glacier National Park

Monitoring bumble bees and flowering plants in alpine meadows at Glacier National Park, photo by Lindsay Dose (USGS contractor)

Monitoring bumble bees and flowering plants in alpine meadows at Glacier National Park, photo by Lindsay Dose (USGS contractor)

Person hunching over white metal box in ground
Tarah Balden, scientist, Yurok Tribe looking at data logger
Tarah Balden, scientist, Yurok Tribe looking at data logger
Tarah Balden, scientist, Yurok Tribe looking at data logger

A soil moisture data logger buried in the ground is a specialized instrument designed to measure and record the moisture content of soil over time. Here's how it generally functions:

A group of 9 USGS workers sit on the ground to dig small holes and plant rubber rabbitbrush seedlings
Planting a common garden study
Planting a common garden study
Planting a common garden study

The USGS Fire, Invasives, Restoration, and Ecology in Sagebrush Steppe (FIREss Team) plants a common garden of rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) near Boise, Idaho in collaboration with USFS.

The USGS Fire, Invasives, Restoration, and Ecology in Sagebrush Steppe (FIREss Team) plants a common garden of rubber rabbitbrush (Ericameria nauseosa) near Boise, Idaho in collaboration with USFS.

RAMPS and the Institute for Applied Ecology get together at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023
RAMPS and the Institute for Applied Ecology get together at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023
RAMPS and the Institute for Applied Ecology get together at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023
RAMPS and the Institute for Applied Ecology get together at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023

RAMPS and the Institute for Applied Ecology (IAE) get together to discuss potential seeding network across New Mexico at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

RestoreNet poster presentation at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference
RestoreNet poster presentation at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference
RestoreNet poster presentation at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference
RestoreNet poster presentation at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference

RAMPS Coordinator Laura Shriver (left) and RAMPS Biologist Sarah Costanzo (right) pose with a poster describing the RAMPS project RestoreNet at the Society for Ecological Restoration – Southwest Chapter 2023 Annual Conference in Sant

Visual abstract: Orange title, 2 images below on left with circular arrows. Arrow in middle going to 2 images circular arrows
Visual Abstract for Fire Modeling Integration
Visual Abstract for Fire Modeling Integration
Visual Abstract for Fire Modeling Integration

Workflow for integrating fire behavior modeling into post-fire hazard risk models. QUIC-Fire is a fast, 3-D simulation tool for prescribed fire planning. It can help managers understand the complex and dynamic behavior of wildland fires.

Workflow for integrating fire behavior modeling into post-fire hazard risk models. QUIC-Fire is a fast, 3-D simulation tool for prescribed fire planning. It can help managers understand the complex and dynamic behavior of wildland fires.

A river flows through a canyon into the distance.
Yellowstone River from Brink of Lower Falls
Yellowstone River from Brink of Lower Falls
Yellowstone River from Brink of Lower Falls

Looking down from the lookout point at Brink of Lower Falls, over the Yellowstone River, as it flows south into the distance.

Simulated time lapse graph with yellow and green figures of approximated fuel conditions for a site in the Dixie Fire, CA.
3D QUIC-Fire Visualization
3D QUIC-Fire Visualization
3D QUIC-Fire Visualization

Example of a three-dimensional QUIC-Fire simulation. The example site is located in the Dixie Fire, CA. QUIC-Fire is a fast, 3-D simulation tool for prescribed fire planning. It can help managers understand the complex and dynamic behavior of wildland fires.

Example of a three-dimensional QUIC-Fire simulation. The example site is located in the Dixie Fire, CA. QUIC-Fire is a fast, 3-D simulation tool for prescribed fire planning. It can help managers understand the complex and dynamic behavior of wildland fires.

screenshot of an model that simulates the wind direction and speed during a wildfire. Colored arrows symbolize the wind velocity and direction.
Modeling to Support Proactive Approaches to Wildland Fire
Modeling to Support Proactive Approaches to Wildland Fire
Modeling to Support Proactive Approaches to Wildland Fire

Screen shot visualization of wind direction and velocity from a coupled/fire atmosphere model run of a wildfire (Dude Fire).

a person reaches into a hold and pounds a stake into the soil with a rubber mallet
Extracting a bulk density soil sample
Extracting a bulk density soil sample
Extracting a bulk density soil sample

A scientist carefully collects a soil sample to determine soil density. Accurate soil density measurements are required for scaling soil carbon from the plot to the landscape. 

A scientist carefully collects a soil sample to determine soil density. Accurate soil density measurements are required for scaling soil carbon from the plot to the landscape. 

A small dry streambed in a wooded area
PI_06.5 Dry streambed
PI_06.5 Dry streambed
PI_06.5 Dry streambed

A still image taken from a USGS Flow Photo Explorer camera (Pl_06.5) shows drying in a small stream in Shenandoah National Park.

A still image taken from a USGS Flow Photo Explorer camera (Pl_06.5) shows drying in a small stream in Shenandoah National Park.

green sagebrush shrubs with brown grass in between
Cheatgrass and sagebrush shrubs in Wyoming
Cheatgrass and sagebrush shrubs in Wyoming
Cheatgrass and sagebrush shrubs in Wyoming

This site south of Rock Springs in Wyoming was not burned but cheatgrass has invaded the space between sagebrush shrubs. 

a field of bunchgrasses interspersed with plants with yellow flowers and bare ground
Natural recovery of native vegetation post-wildfire
Natural recovery of native vegetation post-wildfire
Natural recovery of native vegetation post-wildfire

This site was burned but not invaded by exotic annual grasses. Many perennial bunchgrasses were present before the fire and were able to recover quickly afterwards.

many green sagebrush shrubs with short brown grass in between
Sagebrush patches invaded by cheatgrass
Sagebrush patches invaded by cheatgrass
Sagebrush patches invaded by cheatgrass

Cheatgrass has invaded the space between sagebrush shrubs on this landscape south of Rock Springs in Wyoming. 

A sea of brown grass with interspersed green vegetation on top of a hill
Burned and invaded landscape in Wyoming
Burned and invaded landscape in Wyoming
Burned and invaded landscape in Wyoming

This landscape south of Rock Springs, Wyoming was burned and subsequently invaded by cheatgrass. Cheatgrass has a short growing season and leaves behind mats of dry, dead material that serves as wildfire fuel--contributing to a cycle of more frequent and larger wildfires and more plant invasions.

This landscape south of Rock Springs, Wyoming was burned and subsequently invaded by cheatgrass. Cheatgrass has a short growing season and leaves behind mats of dry, dead material that serves as wildfire fuel--contributing to a cycle of more frequent and larger wildfires and more plant invasions.

a field of brown grass with low hills in the background
Burned landscape invaded by cheatgrass
Burned landscape invaded by cheatgrass
Burned landscape invaded by cheatgrass

This landscape in Rabbit Valley in Colorado was burned and then invaded by the exotic annual grass cheatgrass. A formerly diverse plant community was replaced by a sea of highly flammable grass. 

This landscape in Rabbit Valley in Colorado was burned and then invaded by the exotic annual grass cheatgrass. A formerly diverse plant community was replaced by a sea of highly flammable grass. 

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