Skip to main content

Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies

thumbnail
Designing Regional Fuel Breaks to Protect Large Remnant Tracts of Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat in Southern ID and OR, Northern and Central NV, and Northwestern UT (TNC)
a. Develop a regional map showing the highest probability pathways of wildfire spread under current conditions.b. Design regional networks of fuel breaks to reduce future wildfire size in large remnant tracts of priority GSG habitat. Networks will be designed by modeling fire spread with fuel breaks using Circuitscape (http://www.Circuitscape.org/), a wildlife connectivity software based on electrical circuit theory applied to a raster map, and consulting with agencies and tribes about regional priority habitats in southern ID and OR, northern NV,and northwestern UT.c. Deliver GIS layers and maps showing suggested networks of fuel breaks to federal and state agencies, and tribes. This will allow fire managers to...
The Integrated Rangeland Fire Management Strategy (hereafter Strategy, DOI 2015) outlined the need for coordinated, science-based adaptive management to achieve long-term protection, conservation, and restoration of the sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystem. A key component of this management approach is the identification of knowledge gaps that limit implementation of effective strategies to meet current management challenges. The tasks and actions identified in the Strategy address several broad topics related to management of the sagebrush ecosystem. This science plan is organized around these topics and specifically focuses on fire, invasive plant species and their effects on altering fire regimes, restoration,...
Fishes of the Upper Colorado River Basin have one of the highest levels of endemism in the United States. The range and abundance of these fish has declined over the last century and continues to decline as a result of legacy impacts from past management practices, current water management, interactions with non-natives, and other impacts. Seven of these fish are considered imperiled by the American Fisheries Society and four are listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. We applied a complementarity-based approach to develop priority ranks (0 – 1; low to high) for catchments in the Upper Colorado River Basin. We used methods and a framework that we had previously developed for the Lower Colorado...
thumbnail
The influence of climatic conditions on reproduction of sagebrush-dependent birds: Implications for climate vulnerability assessments and habitat prioritization efforts
We propose to evaluate reproductive vital rates of sagebrush songbirds in relation to key aspects of local climate. To accomplish this we will leverage several large existing datasets of nesting observations from over six thousand nests across multiple years and sites, archived weather station data (temperature, precipitation, and relative humidity), and gridded climate datasets (e.g., PRISM). To further examine whether particular landscapes and/or microhabitats may confer more protection in the face of increasingly more extreme weather events (e.g., high temperatures and drought) expected with climate change, we will incorporate habitat data collected remotely and at nests into climatic response models. Finally,...
thumbnail
Range-wide Lesser Prairie-Chicken Management Plan Development
The range-wide plan (RWP) has been developed in response to concerns about lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) habitat threats which may be impacting LPC populations, and the proposed listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Along with the existing conservation efforts already being implemented, as described in the RWP, the supporting WAFWA Conservation Agreement (WCA) represents another mechanism to implement conservation to benefit LPC. The WCP represents an opportunity to enroll participants who agree to avoid, minimize and mitigate actions which may be detrimental to LPC. Landowners may enroll properties to be managed for the benefit of LPC. Properties may generate credits for mitigation. When complete avoidance...
View more...
ScienceBase brings together the best information it can find about USGS researchers and offices to show connections to publications, projects, and data. We are still working to improve this process and information is by no means complete. If you don't see everything you know is associated with you, a colleague, or your office, please be patient while we work to connect the dots. Feel free to contact sciencebase@usgs.gov.