Successful Vegetation Management Practices in the Sagebrush-Steppe

This learning series responds to Section 7.b.iii, Action Item #5 within the Fuels section of the 2015 Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy, which calls for a comprehensive knowledge transfer program to enhance the fuels management program’s role in sagebrush-steppe management. The Strategy is intended to improve the efficiency and efficacy of actions to address rangeland fire, to better prevent and suppress rangeland fire, and improve efforts to restore fire-impacted landscapes.

Specifically, this series provides a synthesis of foundational and emerging science related to vegetation management in the sagebrush steppe. The learning modules synthesize the state of the science for six management topics:

• Background and origins of the conservation problems facing the sagebrush steppe and Greater Sage-Grouse
• Understanding and applying the concepts of Resistance and Resilience
• Management of sagebrush ecosystems experiencing conifer encroachment
• Management of sagebrush ecosystems at risk of or invaded by invasive annual grasses
• Restoration of sagebrush steppe ecosystems
• Issues specific to the eastern range of Greater Sage-Grouse

The modules showcase examples of landscapes where management actions are improving ecological conditions across the sagebrush steppe. In addition, the lessons contain science summaries and interviews with subject matter experts in the fields of plant ecology, fire management, vegetation treatments, and sage-grouse biology. Each lesson also incorporates existing informational products, such as videos and graphics, which strengthen the key messages being conveyed. Finally, each lesson presents highly relevant, selected literature which end users may find valuable.