Download or read book Rangeland Resource Trends in the United States written by John Edward Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 98 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rangeland Resource Trends in the United States written by John E. Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 84 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Rangeland Resource Trends in the United States a Technical Document Supporting the 2000 USDA Forest Service RPA Assessment written by John E. Mitchell and published by Createspace Independent Pub. This book was released on 2012-10-19 with total page 86 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The status of rangelands in the United States has been of continual interest to the Congress and American people since the western states were occupied by Europeans. Until 1854, the issue for the federal government was one of acquisition. A decade later, however, the Homestead Act of 1862 marked the beginning of an era of land disposal. This western expansion for minerals, forage, and timber was considered our country's “manifest destiny” (Clawson 1983).During the 100 years following the Civil War, U.S. rangelands were almost exclusively used for livestock grazing. During the 1880's, the number of cattle in the 17 western states proliferated almost six-fold from 4.5 million head to nearly 27 million head (Poling 1991). This was the high water mark of the prominent cattle barons financed by European capital (Mitchell and Hart 1987). At the same time, the number of domestic sheep was also multiplying—from less than one million head in 1850 to 20 million head by 1890 (Stoddart and Smith 1943). The first national problem involving rangelands originated from the joint effects of land disposal and rapidly increasing livestock numbers. Large cumulative areas were awarded for railroad expansion and to states when they jointed the Union. Counting Alaska, 17 percent of the total state land area of the 30 states receiving land grants was obtained from the federal government; for the 16 western states (Texas received no land), the figure was more than 91 million acres or almost 10 percent of their cumulative area (Public Land Law Review Commission 1970). The Homestead Act of 1862 was followed by the Enlarged Homestead Act of 1909 (which allowed settlers to claim 320 acres) and the Stock Raising Homestead Act of 1916 (which provided 640 acres). In total, about 285 million acres were claimed under the Homestead Acts (Ross 1984). All lands containing water and good grazing were occupied during this era. Even a section of land was insufficient for homesteaders to make a living through-out much of the West, however, so grazing started on the public domain (Carpenter 1981). This Range Assessment, like those preceding it, addresses contemporary topics while continuing a baseline appraisal of the central theme for all range assessments: the demand for and supply of forage in the United States. It examines both anticipated supply and future demand from a different perspective, however. The U.S. Department of Agriculture no longer maintains a model system with a 50-year outlook like that used in the previous two rangeland assessments. Therefore, an alternative approach, scenario analysis, was selected to project forage demand, and is described in a separate report (Van Tassell et al. 1999). Supply projections are still tied to land use changes, but increases in rangeland resulting from conservation programs are no longer anticipated (Chapter 2: Extent of Rangelands). Advances in technology are not expected to significantly change the overall forage supply (Chapter 4: Maintenance of Productive Capacity), although this opinion is not unanimous. Van Tassell et al. (1999) concluded that changes in forage production technology would enhance the use of some grazing lands, especially in the South. Four Assessment Regions are used to describe data and other information on U.S. rangelands: the Pacific Coast (PC), Rocky Mountain (RM), Northern (NO), and Southern (SO).

Download or read book Wildlife Resource Trends in the United States written by Curtis H. Flather and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report documents trends in wildlife resources for the nation as required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974. The report focuses on recent historical trends in wildlife as one indicator of ecosystem health across the United States and updates wildlife trends presented in previous RPA Assessments. The report also shows short- and long-term projections of some wildlife for documenting expected trajectories of resource change. National trends in four attributes of wildlife resources, including habitat, population, harvest, and users, set the context within which region-specific trends are presented. The data for this analysis came largely from information that currently exists within Forest Service and cooperating state and federal agency inventories. The report concludes with a synthesis of these trends as they relate to the concept of resource health. We highlight those trends that appear to indicate favorable, uncertain, or degraded resource conditions in an attempt to identify resource situations that warrant policy and management attention.

Download or read book Rangeland Resource Trends in the United States written by John Edward Mitchell and published by . This book was released on 2000 with total page 92 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Future Scenarios written by Linda L. Langner and published by . This book was released on 2020 with total page 34 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Forest and Rangeland Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 (RPA) mandates a periodic assessment of the conditions and trends of the Nation's renewable resources on forests and rangelands. The 2020 RPA Assessment will evaluate the future of the Nation's renewable natural resources through 2070. This publication describes the process used to select a set of four integrated scenarios to represent a plausible span of socioeconomic and climate futures that underpin the natural resource analyses. These four scenarios, and their associated assumptions about population change, economic growth, and climate change, are also described in this document.

Download or read book General Technical Report PNW GTR written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 624 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Indicators of Rangeland Health and Functionality in the Intermountain West written by Renee O'Brien and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 20 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Rangelands comprise about 42 percent of the land area of the United States and provide vital land functions such as watershed, multiple-use, recreation, and other amenities. Currently, we do not know the status and trends of many of our nation's rangelands, and consistent protocols for describing rangeland system dynamics across land management agencies are lacking. Various Federal land management agencies have responsibility for rangeland inventory and assessments that characterize the health of the nation's rangelands. Many efforts have been initiated to standardize an approach to large-scale monitoring and assessment of rangelands, but none are universally accepted. This paper describes four rangeland health indicators and interpretation criteria that can be used to characterize rangeland health and functionality. The four indicators tested in this study-noxious weeds, ground cover, species composition, and shrub cover-proved to be viable indicators of rangeland health and functionality. The paper recommends that these indicators can be used at many scales, from the site level for local planning, to State and national levels for strategic planning.

Download or read book A Synoptic Review of U S Rangelands written by Reeves and published by CreateSpace. This book was released on 2015-02-14 with total page 138 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The Renewable Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires the USDA Forest Service to conduct assessments of resource conditions. This report fulfills that need and focuses on quantifying extent, productivity, and health of U.S. rangelands. Since 1982, the area of U.S. rangelands has decreased at an average rate of 350,000 acres per year owed mostly to conversion to agricultural and residential land uses. Nationally, rangeland productivity has been steady over the last decade, but the Rocky Mountain Assessment Region appears to have moderately increased productivity since 2000. The forage situation is positive and, from a national perspective, U.S. rangelands can probably support a good deal more animal production than current levels. Sheep numbers continue to decline, horses and goats have increased numbers, and cattle have slightly increased, averaging 97 million animals per year since 2002. Data from numerous sources indicate rangelands are relatively healthy but also highlight the need for consolidation of efforts among land management agencies to improve characterization of rangeland health. The biggest contributors to decreased rangeland health, chiefly invasive species, are factors associated with biotic integrity.

Download or read book General Technical Report RMRS written by and published by . This book was released on 1998 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Northwest Forest Plan the First 10 Years 1994 2003 Timber and nontimber resources written by and published by . This book was released on 2006 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The socioeconomic monitoring report addresses two evaluation questions posed in the Northwest Forest Plan (the Plan) Record of Decision and assesses progress in meeting five Plan socioeconomic goals. Volume I of the report contains key findings. Volume II addresses the question, Are predictable levels of timber and nontimber resources available and being produced? It also evaluates progress in meeting the goal of producing a predictable level of timber sales, special forest products, livestock grazing, minerals, and recreation opportunities. The focus of volume III is the evaluation question, Are local communities and economies experiencing positive or negative changes that may be associated with federal forest management? Two Plan goals are also assessed in volume III: (1) to maintain the stability of local and regional economies on a predictable, long-term basis and, (2) to assist with long-term economic development and diversification to minimize adverse impacts associated with the loss of timber jobs. Progress in meeting another Plan goal--to promote agency-citizen collaboration in forest management--is evaluated in volume IV. Volume V reports on trends in public values regarding forest management in the Pacific Northwest over the past decade, community views of how well the forest values and environmental qualities associated with late-successional, old-growth, and aquatic ecosystems have been protected under the Plan (a fifth Plan goal), and issues and concerns relating to forest management under the Plan expressed by community members. Volume VI provides a history of the Northwest Forest Plan socioeconomic monitoring program and a discussion of potential directions for the program.

Download or read book Wildlife Resource Trends in the United States written by Curtis H. Flather and published by . This book was released on 1999 with total page 88 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This report documents trends in wildlife resources for the nation as required by the Renewable Resources Planning Act (RPA) of 1974. The report focuses on recent historical trends in wildlife as one indicator of ecosystem health across the United States and updates wildlife trends presented in previous RPA Assessments. The report also shows short- and long-term projections of some wildlife for documenting expected trajectories of resource change. National trends in four attributes of wildlife resources, including habitat, population, harvest, and users, set the context within which region-specific trends are presented. The data for this analysis came largely from information that currently exists within Forest Service and cooperating state and federal agency inventories. The report concludes with a synthesis of these trends as they relate to the concept of resource health. We highlight those trends that appear to indicate favorable, uncertain, or degraded resource conditions in an attempt to identify resource situations that warrant policy and management attention.

Download or read book Assessment of grassland ecosystem conditions in the southwestern United States written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States without special title written by and published by . This book was released on 2004 with total page 176 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Comprehensive Regional Resource Assessments and Multipurpose Uses of Forest Inventory and Analysis Data 1976 to 2001 written by Victor A. Rudis and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book General Technical Report SRS written by and published by . This book was released on 2003 with total page 136 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Greater Sage Grouse written by Steve Knick and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2011-05-19 with total page 665 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Admired for its elaborate breeding displays and treasured as a game bird, the Greater Sage-Grouse is a charismatic symbol of the broad open spaces in western North America. Unfortunately these birds have declined across much of their range—which stretches across 11 western states and reaches into Canada—mostly due to loss of critical sagebrush habitat. Today the Greater Sage-Grouse is at the center of a complex conservation challenge. This multifaceted volume, an important foundation for developing conservation strategies and actions, provides a comprehensive synthesis of scientific information on the biology and ecology of the Greater Sage-Grouse. Bringing together the experience of thirty-eight researchers, it describes the bird’s population trends, its sagebrush habitat, and potential limitations to conservation, including the effects of rangeland fire, climate change, invasive plants, disease, and land uses such as energy development, grazing, and agriculture.