Nevada and Great Basin Workshop for Big Sagebrush State and Transition Models, Accuracy before Precision

Sherman Swanson, University of Nevada, Reno

Co-convenors, Joel Brown, Gary Brakley Pat Shaver, and

George Peacock NRCS

We can be better than our reputation, but we cannot be better than our principles

Principle of economics –

Invest for the best marginal reaction

A useful management objective

Achievable, Measurable, Worthy of cost to achieve and measure it

Ecological thresholds are big -- REALLY BIG! Fire frequency, Intensity, Invasive weeds, Unnatural grazing, other disturbances,

Principle of negotiations –

be hard on problems, – Be easy on people– Get the language right– Be hard on the problems– Get the science right

Reorganize what we know

to learn what we must.

Where Clements applies,

Use it correctly.

Where it does not,

Describe other transitions -- before they become history.

Our society makes decisions

that require substantial investments and achieve trivial results.

Until we put our thinking right,

we cannot persuade others to make essential investments in rangeland

management.

After we put our thinking right,

Society will fund rangeland management. Any other course of action will seem silly.

Range people know a lot

Only some is recorded in a format useful for

focused prioritized decision making,

The symposium on the NRCS National Range Handbook Ecological Sites Vegetation Thresholds Accuracy before Precision

To get there, UNR, NRCS and GLTI held a workshop. We focused on STMs For Sagebrush sites Great Basin Intermountain West

Pooling our knowledge to

Record the ideas as accurately as possible Before intensive investments.

We invited selected range ecologists from 7 States: NRCS FS, BLM, and Univ.

Reviewed STMs – Joe Brown, George Peacock etc. Reviewed Sagebrush Ecology – Alma

Winward Looked at examples – Gary Brackley and

Stan Boltz

Formed teams: Artrt, Artrv, Artrw, Artrw-sandy Describe the States Describe the Transitions Present the models Refine the models

What did we learn:

Terms need definition Standards need protocol Process in flux Not 100% agreement Much common thought We’ll hold more workshops.

Until we put our thinking right,

we cannot persuade others to make essential investments in rangeland

management.

After we put our thinking right,

Society will fund rangeland management. Any other course of action will seem silly.

Bad news

NV fires 1,600,000 acres $42,000,000.

Good news

$42,000,000. Focused on thresholds First chance for economical transition Last chance to not cross a threshold Creates resistance against next threshold We didn’t burn more -- no seed