A DECISION SUPPORT TOOL FOR RANGELAND GRAZING PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT

Cali L Weise; U.S. Geological Survey; croth@usgs.gov; Derek A. Friend, John C. Tull, Peter S. Coates

Science-based grazing management is crucial to preserving and improving rangeland productivity and sagebrush ecosystem health. We developed a grazing planning tool (GPT) that operationalizes the science around grazing to guide planning and adaptive management and to help producers and managers plan grazing logistics within a pasture or allotment and support operations while protecting or improving ecological resilience. The tool centralizes several spatial datasets integral to grazing planning and management, including vegetation cover, biomass, water features, wildfires, ecological monitoring, sensitive wildlife habitat, and ecological resilience. Within the tool, users can query and interact with the data to address objectives at the pasture or allotment level, such as: where biomass is available to cattle, how water or fences can be used to change availability, what areas are suited for targeted or prescribed grazing, and what areas would benefit from rotational grazing to avoid wildlife conflicts. The tool can be used as a map viewer, allowing users to visualize pasture and allotment conditions through time. The tool aims to provide an interactive and easy-to-use framework, to support common goals for all stakeholder groups working toward productive and resilient rangelands. Information is preliminary and provided for best timely science.

Public Policy and Wildlife Management