Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
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USDA's Agricultural Research Service Now Stewarding the Rangeland Analysis Platform
USDA-ARS COMMITTED TO KEEPING RAP UPDATED AND ACCESSIBLE
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The Rangeland Analysis Platform has been revolutionizing rangeland management and monitoring since it was first launched in 2018. Better known as RAP, the dataset and online mapping tools allow users to access more than three decades of vegetation and production trends across the United States. Landowners, resource managers, conservationists, and scientists are using this data to inform land management planning, decision making, and the evaluation of conservation outcomes.
The powerful online platform was co-developed by researchers at the University of Montana, the Bureau of Land Management, and the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service through the Sage Grouse Initiative, Working Lands for Wildlife, and the USDA’s Agricultural Research Service, with support from the Intermountain West Joint Venture (part of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service) and the USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project-Wildlife Component.
Following the incubation of this cutting-edge remote-sensing technology, USDA-ARS is now formally managing the scientific and technological advancements of the RAP. This management includes the 2022 map layers, which were released in March.
RAP users can assess trends in rangeland resources through time and space by using maps of rangeland vegetation cover and production, such as annual and perennial forbs and grasses, shrubs, and trees, dating back to the mid-1980s. RAP uses satellite imagery and advanced algorithms in Google Earth Engine to produce these long-term datasets across the continental U.S., which are updated every 16 days for vegetation production and used for annual estimation of vegetation cover.
Researchers from ARS and the University of Montana recently used RAP technology to help land managers assess vegetation trends on public lands and to assist private ranchers in maximizing their grass production. Other recent ARS and collaborator improvements to RAP have resulted in new vegetation models that allow land managers to forecast location-specific wildfire risk across the Great Basin.
The Rangelands Analysis Platform can be accessed at Rangelands.app where users can also find the associated online tools. Both RAP and those tools are also available at www.wlfw.org/science/tools-maps-and-apps/.
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How Invasive Grasses Hurt Hunting
THE "ON OUR MARK' PODCAST VISITS WITH BRIAN MEALOR, WLFW TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER EXPERT IN WYOMING, TO CHAT ABOUT INVASIVE GRASSES AND HUNTING
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Brian Mealor, a biologist with the University of Wyoming and WLFW's invasive annual grasses technology transfer specialist, sat down with the "On Our Mark" Podcast hosts to talk about how invasive annual grasses impact hunting, what programs are helping to combat this threat, and what sportsmen and women can do to help prevent the spread of invasive annual grasses.
Their conversation is engaging, informative, and valuable for anyone who likes to hunt in the West or who wants to learn more about the threat of invasive annual grasses.
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| More Woody Encroachment Means More Wildlife Risk
PRESCRIBED FIRE CAN LOWER IT
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New WLFW-affiliated research highlights the role that prescribed fire can play in reducing the risk of wildfires exacerbated by expanding trees. Researcher Victoria Donovan studied the difference in spot-fire distance between prescribed fire and wildfire in the Great Plains. Spot fires occur when fires send burning embers, or firebrands, through the air, which can then cause additional fires if they ignite where they land.
Her research shows that spot-fire distance during prescribed fires is several times less than spot-fire distance seen during wildfires, highlighting that conducting prescribed fires is safer than waiting for wildfires to occur.
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Watch South Dakota Segment of C2C and Mark Calendars for Next Segment
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ON-DEMAND EPISODE ABOUT EFFORTS IN SOUTH DAKOTA TO CURB ENCROACHING TREES NOW AVAILABLE
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Check out the latest WLFW-affiliated segment of the National Beef Cattlemen's Association's flagship TV show, Cattlemen to Cattlemen, that featured how the NRCS and others are working with producers in South Dakota to combat the spread of woody species, the segment is now available on YouTube for on-demand viewing. Watch the segment on YouTube and learn more about this threat and what South Dakota producers are doing to keep grasslands productive and resilient.
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NEXT SEGMENT FEATURES NRCS OFFICIALS IN GREAT PLAINS DISCUSSING THE GREAT PLAINS GRASSLAND INITIATIVE SET TO AIR MAY 9th ON RFD-TV AT 8:30 PM ET
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The next segment in the ongoing NRCS-C2C series features a panel of NRCS state conservationists from Oklahoma, Nebraska, and South Dakota, and the state resource conservationist from Kansas.
Each official shares a bit about the condition of the grasslands in their state and how the state-based Great Plains Grassland Initiatives are helping producers tackle one of the biggest threats facing the Great Plains grasslands - woody encroachment.
Mark your calendars for May 9th at 8:30 pm Eastern and watch the segment on RFD-TV.
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Find more news and resources at WLFW.org
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This great story from the Intermountain West Joint Venture highlights how new funding from the BIL is helping Idaho partners increase the scale and pace of mesic restoration in the Gem State. Restoring mesic, or wet, habitats is a key focus of WLFW's work in sagebrush country and this work benefits producers and wildlife, while making the landscape more resilient to wildfires, drought, and other challenges.
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USDA awarded $12 million in cooperative agreements for projects that expand access to conservation technical assistance for livestock producers and increase the use of conservation practices on grazing lands. Long-time WLFW partners like the Sandhills Task Force and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association are among the 2023 recipients, and the funding will help them connect producers to technical assistance, build on local partnerships, and break down barriers that producers face when working to implement conservation-based grazing practices.
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced that agricultural producers and private landowners can apply for the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) through May 26, 2023. Among CRP enrollment opportunities, Grassland CRP is a unique working lands program, allowing producers and landowners to continue grazing and haying practices while conserving grasslands and promoting plant and animal biodiversity as well as healthier soil.
Landowners and producers interested in Grassland CRP, or any other CRP enrollment option, should contact their local USDA Service Center to learn more or to apply for the program before the May 26 deadline.
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Beavers are receiving ever-more attention for how they, and particularly the structures they build in streams, can help western landscapes survive and recover from drought, flooding, and wildfire. Even if beavers aren't present in streams, humans can build low-tech structures that mimic beaver dams that slow down runoff and spread water out over the floodplain where it can seep into the ground. This short story and video from ABC News highlights efforts on public lands in Colorado where conservationists are partnering to install these structures on streams that feed the Colorado River.
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High-elevation meadows are critically important components of the sagebrush biome because they naturally store water late into the growing season when plants and animals need it most. Unfortunately, many of these "wet meadows" are drying out due to changes in how water moves across them. This great video from Montana highlights how simple, low-tech, one-rock dam and Zeedyk structures help keep water in these systems, making them more resilient to drought, flooding, and wildfire, while also ensuring they provide the "green groceries" that wildlife need late in the summer when other food sources are depleted.
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Conservation easements are an increasingly important conservation tool that benefit landowners, wildlife, and help preserve the West's iconic wide-open landscapes. This great story from the Intermountain West Joint Venture highlights how increased collaboration and coordination is helping landowners in the Bear River Watershed better work with local land trusts and the NRCS to keep working lands in working hands, protect important values, and keep rangelands healthy, productive, and resilient.
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A new, easy-to-use app launched by the NRCS in April, is helping landowners and scientists better understand where bobwhite quail are distributed across their range. These well-camouflaged birds have experienced dramatic population declines in the last 30 years, but scientists don't know much about current population distributions. To help alleviate this problem, NRCS has been working with Quail Forever and the University of Georgia Gamebird and Managed Ecosystems Lab as part of the Working Lands for Wildlife – Northern Bobwhite Quail Partnership to develop a new mobile app called "Bobscapes."
Bobscapes enlists the help of citizens to track bobwhite populations and collect the data that scientists need to better manage habitat for the bobwhite and other grassland species nationally. The app not only helps record the location of bobwhite populations, but also helps connect land managers with voluntary conservation assistance and helps direct management resources for bobwhite habitat.
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Working Lands for Wildlife is the Natural Resources Conservation Service's premier approach for conserving America's working lands to benefit people, wildlife, and rural communities. In the West, WLFW is guided by two, action-based frameworks for conservation. The framework approach is designed to increase conservation and restoration of rangelands by addressing major threats to rangeland health and through the implementation of conservation measures that limit soil disturbance, support sustainable grazing management, promote the strategic use of prescribed fire, and support native grassland species. Together, the frameworks leverage the power of voluntary, win-win conservation solutions to benefit people and wildlife from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.
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