Rangeland Management Promoting sustainable and environmentally friendly rangeland ecosystems is extremely important to society for the goods and services they produce and for the ecological services they provide (Society for Range Management, 2009). As Nevada rancher, Agee Smith puts it: "Everything is interconnected, and there’s a reaction for every action you take in this interconnected chain." So the Smith family and others recommend the following strategies to create a truly sustainable range management program:

• Set clear goals

• Understand the plants and their needs

• Graze with various livestock species

• Monitor the vegetation

• Protect soil and water

• Work with other experts

Once a rangeland manager has set precise goals, the next step is to evaluate any and all resources, including:

• natural resources - soil, water, range, climate and crops

• livestock

• wildlife

• equipment

• finances

• most importantly, the people involved (SARE, 2007).

Research is constantly being conducted for rangeland management. Every year A USDA Forest Service publication providing statistics on grazing use for Congress, its partners, permittees, the livestock industry, other institutions or agencies, or anyone interested in the use of the National Forest System rangeland vegetation is released. These reports are known as Grazing Statistical Summary Reports. Many ranchers and farmers aid in enriching the value and efficiency of their land by using Electronic field data collection. This is done with Portable Data Recorders (PDAs) and Geospatial Positioning Systems (GPSs). This information is then gathered by the Forest Service and put into a database that continues to allow rangeland managers to make the best decisions for their land and for the future of the environment (Forest Service's Rangeland Management Site, 2006).

Linda Joyce
Supervisory Research Rangeland Scientist

See Also: Atmospheric Sciences

Fort Collins Forestry Sciences Lab: Landscapes

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Interests:

• Climate change

• Climate change on forest and rangeland resources and metrics for ecosystem health, administrative, and scientific leadership

• Monitoring rangeland sustainability

• Potential impacts of climate change on forests

Geographical Areas: Pacific Northwest; Washington; California; Oregon.

John Mitchell
Rangeland Scientist

See Also: Forest Ecosystems, Social Sciences

Fort Collins Forestry Sciences Lab: Natural Resources

Interests:

• Effects of urban development and subdivisions on plant communities and rangelands in the Rocky Mountains

• Working to develop consistent, acceptable measures of rangeland's long-term contributions to society

• Assessing the status of U.S. rangelands nationally

Geographical Areas: Rocky Mountains; Big Cimarron Watershed; Southern Colorado.

Robin Tausch
Supervisory Rangeland Scientist

See Also: Fire/Fuel, Stream-Riparian Environments

Great Basin Ecology Lab

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Interests:

• Watersheds

• Restoration

• Invasive species

• Fire and fuel

Geographical Areas: Great Basin, Western Rangeland, Utah, Interior West.

Forest Service's Rangeland Management Site

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Rangeland Info

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Society for Range Management