Cooperative Extension Service Communications and Technology Department 3354 1000 E. University Ave. Laramie, WY 82071 (307) 766-2540 • fax (307) 766-3998 • www.uwyo.edu

 

For Immediate Release

 

Contact: Robert Waggener, Editor

Phone: (307) 766-3571

E-mail: robertw@uwyo.edu

 

Date: June 14, 2006

 

New UW bulletin, DVD assists ranchers, agencies with range monitoring

                The University of Wyoming Cooperative Extension Service (UW CES) has produced a new bulletin and DVD to help grazing permit holders and managers of public lands implement cooperative rangeland monitoring programs.

            The author, Eric Peterson, an area extension educator for Sublette, Teton and Lincoln counties, said 1,500 copies of the bulletin, Implementing a Cooperative Permittee Monitoring Program, and 600 DVDs have already been distributed throughout the western United States.

            He added the federal Bureau of Land Management in Washington, D.C., has requested copies for every BLM state and field office, and the Idaho Cattle Association asked for 75 copies.

            Peterson is developing a mailing list to distribute the bulletin and DVD to extension range specialists, cattle-related organizations, state departments of agriculture and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) offices in the West.

            Copies of B-1169 are available free on the Web at http://ces.uwyo.edu/PUBS/B1169.pdf.

            Copies of the bulletin and/or the DVD can be ordered free of charge from: Eric Peterson, Sublette County Cooperative Extension Service, Box 579, Pinedale, WY 82941-0579. He can also be reached at (307) 367-4380 or eric@uwyo.edu.

            The idea of producing the guide came to Peterson after becoming involved in several rangeland monitoring programs in western Wyoming. The first one started in 1996 as a result of disagreements and lack of communication between the grazing permittees and the USFS, he said.

            Peterson and other UW CES educators and range specialists brought the two sides together in an effort to resolve the dispute. Both sides voluntarily agreed to meet.

            Since then, volunteer monitoring programs have been initiated by several grazing associations and the USFS and BLM in western Wyoming.

             “With the assistance of CES, the grazing associations and agencies have gotten together to develop programs to monitor such things as cattle use and the trends in range and stream bank conditions. After 10 years, they have developed objectives for the rangeland, and they have evaluated the grazing strategies. It has resulted in documented stewardship of the rangelands,” Peterson said.

            The bulletin stresses a management plan should be kept simple, and it urges parties to use “KISS” as the basis of any monitoring program. KISS stands for “Keep It Simple, Silly!”

            The parties should choose indicators that have a clear relationship to the objective.

            “If you have an objective calling for less bare ground, then monitor for bare ground. Resist choosing a grand methodology that provides the frequency of a particular species of grass in your data collection!” the bulletin states.

            It offers tips on how to start a cooperative monitoring program including the basics, designing a program, short- and long-term monitoring and maintaining records. There are sections on the equipment needed to carry out a plan and on riparian areas, which are frequently the areas in which “cattle and critics congregate,” the bulletin states.

            Peterson said permit holders who implement a monitoring program and follow through with the recommendations can use that information against complaints.

            Based on the success of the program, he said, “We’re in the process of starting three new voluntary monitoring programs in Lincoln and Sublette counties.”

            He added, “One of the important things is to establish a good working relationship between the permittees and agency range specialists.

            “The relationship is important so they can come together in unison and develop objectives concerning a grazing allotment. In doing that as a team, the agency and range specialists understand the needs of the ranchers, and the ranchers understand the needs of the agency and range specialists.”

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