Download Rangeland Planning and GIS PWS 417

Brigham Young University
Department of Plant and Wildlife Sciences
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Students are able to write a multiple-use
management plan, comparable to a plans produced
by the BLM, USFS, NRCS
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Students are able to calculate stocking rates (AUM)
for livestock and wildlife
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Students understand environmental policies (NEPA,
ESA) and how they apply to plan development
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Students apply GIS and GPS technology to create
effective and comprehensive management plans
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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
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
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
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).
Students are able to access data from the Utah GIS
portal (repository or information, AGRC)
Data that can be accessed include
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Aerial photographs
Hydrology and watershed
vegetation communities
Boundaries (fences, allotments)
Digital elevation data, DRG
Soils and geology
Riparian and wetlands, etc…
NAIP Imagery
Strawberry area
Color (RBG)
1-m resolution
NAIP Imagery
Range types
NAIP Imagery
Range types
Elevation
NAIP Imagery
Range types
Elevation
Allotments
NAIP Imagery
Range types
Elevation
Allotments
Water and
Roads
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Calculate AUM or AUM equivalent for
livestock and wildlife (deer and elk).
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AUM values determined for each allotment
using Ecological Site Description data and
field-based vegetation measurements
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Hard-copy reports submitted by group near the
end of the semester
 Groups 2-3 students each
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Each group gives a 10-minute oral presentation
describing their management plan
 emphasize resource use decisions and justification.