Rangeland Planning and GIS PWS 417

Brigham Young UniversityDepartment of Plant and Wildlife Sciences

Students are able to write a multiple-use management plan, comparable to a plans produced by the BLM, USFS, NRCS

Students are able to calculate stocking rates (AUM) for livestock and wildlife

Students understand environmental policies (NEPA, ESA) and how they apply to plan development

Students apply GIS and GPS technology to create effective and comprehensive management plans

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 weekFirst 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 weekSecond 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

PurposeStudents 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 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 ImageryRange types

NAIP ImageryRange types Elevation

NAIP ImageryRange types ElevationAllotments

NAIP ImageryRange types ElevationAllotmentsWater and Roads

Calculate AUM or AUM equivalent for livestock and wildlife (deer and elk).

AUM values determined for each allotment using Ecological Site Description data and field-based vegetation measurements

Hard-copy reports submitted by group near the end of the semester Groups 2-3 students each

Each group gives a 10-minute oral presentation describing their management plan emphasize resource use decisions and justification.