Rangeland Planning and GIS PWS 417

1. Brigham Young University Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences Rangeland Planning and GISPWS 417

2. Learning Outcomes • Students are able to write a multiple-use management plan, comparable to a plans produced by the BLM, USFS, NRCS • Students are able to calculate stocking rates (AUM) for livestock and wildlife • Students understand environmental policies (NEPA, ESA) and how they apply to plan development • Students apply GIS and GPS technology to create effective and comprehensive management plans

3. Class Structure • Two 1-hour lectures each week • Learning geospatial technology • Geographic Information Systems • Remote Sensing • Global Positioning Systems • Mapping rangeland ecosystems • Understanding rangeland health • Developing and applying ecological site descriptions • Rangeland wildlife management • NEPA

4. Lab (computer based) One 3-hour lab each week First Half of Semester • Training in theory and use of Geographic Information Systems (ArcGIS 9.3) • Training on downloading and processing remotely sensed imagery • Field trips to agency field offices, Aerial Photography Field Office (APFO), Strawberry Valley

5. Lab (computer based) One 3-hour lab each week Second Half of Semester • Group effort in developing a natural resource management plan • Plan developed for USFS lands in the Strawberry Valley • Students provided with opportunity to use knowledge from this class and previous courses to develop a ecologically sound, politically acceptable, and economically reasonable management plan • Final management plan and group oral presentation at the end of the semester

6. Management Plan Purpose Students develop a plausible management plan based on their knowledge of ecosystem structure and function that they have learned throughout their academic program. They also acquire information related to forage availability for livestock and wildlife, range and forest resources, wildlife and wildlife habitat (elk, deer, greater sage-grouse), oil and gas reserves, and recreation opportunities. Students use this information to write and defend their management plan (as a group).

7. Management Plan - data layers Students are able to access data from the Utah GIS portal (repository or information, AGRC) Data that can be accessed include • Aerial photographs • Hydrology and watershed • vegetation communities • Boundaries (fences, allotments) • Digital elevation data, DRG • Soils and geology • Riparian and wetlands, etc…

8. Management Plan – data layers NAIP Imagery Strawberry area Color (RBG) 1-m resolution

9. Management Plan – data layers NAIP Imagery Range types

10. Management Plan – data layers NAIP Imagery Range types Elevation

11. Management Plan – data layers NAIP Imagery Range types Elevation Allotments

12. Management Plan – data layers NAIP Imagery Range types Elevation Allotments Water and Roads

13. AUM Calculations • Calculate AUM or AUM equivalent for livestock and wildlife (deer and elk). • AUM values determined for each allotment using Ecological Site Description data and field-based vegetation measurements

14. Final Report and Presentation • Hard-copy reports submitted by group near the end of the semester • Groups 2-3 students each • Each group gives a 10-minute oral presentation describing their management plan • emphasize resource use decisions and justification.