Pacific Southwest Research Station

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Title: Removal of pinyon-juniper woodlands on the Colorado Plateau

Authors: Peters, Michael; Cobb, Neil S.

Date: 2008

Publication In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Shaw, John D.; Ford, Paulette L., compilers. 2008. Ecology, management, and restoration of pinon-juniper and ponderosa pine ecosystems: combined proceedings of the 2005 St. George, Utah and 2006 Albuquerque, New Mexico workshops. Proceedings RMRS-P-51. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 134

Abstract: (Please note, this is an abstract only) Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) woodland is the 3rd largest vegetation type in the United States, covering 35.5% of the Colorado Plateau, it is the largest vegetation type administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Colorado Plateau. These woodlands have been increasing dramatically in density and extent over the last 100 years. In response to this increase and a concomitant loss of grasslands, the BLM has been actively treating these lands by removing pinyon and juniper and seeding with desired vegetation since the 1950s. To date, over 700 treatments with varying methods have been applied across ~700,000 acres of PJ woodland on BLM lands. Recognizing the value of historical data as a reference for future land management decisions, in 2000 the BLM Colorado Plateau Science Committee adopted a regional Pinyon-Juniper Management Strategy outlining the need for collecting and synthesizing current regional information in order to better understand PJ communities, the dynamics of encroachment, and long-term management. The Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research (MPCER) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) collaborated with the BLM to archive all past pinyon-juniper removal and re-vegetation treatment projects the BLM has completed across the Colorado Plateau. The PJWOOD website contains both relational and GIS databases of treatments that will facilitate research, landscape level analyses, and regional land management planning.

Keywords: Pinon-juniper and juniper woodlands, ponderosa pine forests, ecology, management, restoration, southwestern United States

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Citation

Peters, Michael; Cobb, Neil S. 2008. Removal of pinyon-juniper woodlands on the Colorado Plateau. In: Gottfried, Gerald J.; Shaw, John D.; Ford, Paulette L., compilers. 2008. Ecology, management, and restoration of pinon-juniper and ponderosa pine ecosystems: combined proceedings of the 2005 St. George, Utah and 2006 Albuquerque, New Mexico workshops. Proceedings RMRS-P-51. Fort Collins, CO: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Research Station. p. 134