Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

Participants at 2009 Annual Meeting: Laurie Abbott, Mike Borman, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez (chair), Clayton Marlow, Mike Smith, Eva Strand (secretary). Additional field trip participants: Emily Kachergis (CSU Graduate Student), Kathy McKinstry (BLM), Hunter Seim (BLM). Field Tour The first day of the meeting was comprised of an introductory presentation by the meeting host, Maria Fernandez-Gimenez of Colorado State University and Maria's PhD student Emily Kachergis, followed by a field tour. Maria and Emily presented their team's current research developing state and transition models for the sagebrush steppe based on 1) local knowledge qualitatively analyzed and 2) ecological field data quantitatively analyzed. They described the methods and results of each of these model-building projects, as well as the process of evaluating and integrating the models in a series of stakeholder workshops. The field tour took place in the Elkhead watershed where Emily and Maria have conducted field sampling on public and private lands for development of data-driven state-and-transition models. Two major ecological sites were sampled, namely claypan and mountain loam sites. Claypan sites are broadly characterized by clay soils and alkali sagebrush while the mountain loam sites are characterized by soils with higher organic content and big sagebrush. We stopped at four sites where Emily described the ecological site, state, and discussed possible transitions: 1) Claypan. Alkali sage with diverse understory. No livestock grazing for ~10 years. 2) Mountain loam. Mountain big sagebrush with a diverse understory. Low to moderate grazing history. 3 Claypan. Alkali sage/bluegrass. Low/moderate grazing history. 4) Claypan and mountain loam side by side. Eroding alkali sage on one site and dense mountain sage on the other side of the road. Old Business The second day was the business meeting. Maria Fernandez-Gimenez presented the meeting minutes from 2008 (submitted by Derek Bailey, NMSU), and the group reviewed and approved the 2008 minutes. New Business The group suggested that agency representatives (e.g., ARS) should be invited to WERA40 meetings, realizing that there might be budget constraints. Agency representatives can also be invited to and engaged in the field tours. STM Symposium for 2010 SRM meeting in Denver The meeting continued with a discussion of the planned STM symposium at the Denver SRM meeting in February 2010. The presenters have been finalized and abstracts submitted. Each speaker will be allocated 30-40 minutes, Maria will find out the exact time. Symposium participants will be asked to submit proceedings of their presentation to Clayton Marlow. Montana Extension may be able to cover printing and online publication costs (.pdf format). If possible, authors should submit manuscripts by February. The WERA40 group will write a synthesis paper to be published in Range Ecology and Management based on the symposium and submitted proceedings. This publication will be discussed by the authors at the SRM meeting in Denver. The WERA40 group will act as a review board for the synthesis article. A Wiki web site will be used to coordinate writing of the synthesis paper Laurie and Clayton will set up this web site and invite the other authors. Synopsis of Discussion on STMs and ESDs from Sept. 17 and 18 Throughout the field trip and on the morning of Sept. 18 the group discussed the status and challenges of STM development and application for rangeland assessment. Following are some of the key points that emerged from this discussion. 1. A more thorough and transparent inclusion of soil characteristics in STMs would be desirable. 2. Better consistency in what goes into STMs is needed. What type of information needs to go into an STM (for ESDs), soil characteristics, rangeland health indicators, vegetation characteristics, etc. 3. A state is assumed to be stable but some are not. For states that are undesirable and/or unstable and we need to better identify what conservation measures can be applied. 4. STMs are dynamic and need to be updated as our knowledge evolves. STMs may become incorporated in agency regulatory policy. We need to develop guidelines for proper use of STMs to avoid inappropriate use. STMs are useful to better understand ecological processes and inform management but they are not prescriptive and are unsuitable for regulatory policy and management. 5. We need to better identify how STMs can be used in education and outreach. 6. We need to better understand and define how STMs can be used at different scales and across landscapes incorporating several ecological sites. Wiki Demonstration Laurie Abbott demonstrated how a wiki can be used to collaborate in writing manuscripts online (http://pbworks.com). Using this tool, several authors can access the current version of the manuscript and make changes. Previous versions are saved in an archive online. We discussed using this tool to work on the planned synthesis paper to come from the 2010 STM symposium. Discussion of 2010 WERA-40 Meeting Clayton Marlow presented an invitation to meet collaboratively with the WERA65 meeting in 2010 in Bozeman, Montana. WERA65 works on intensively managed pastures. Intensively managed pastures could give relief to native rangelands when needed. We discussed where to take the field tour next year. It was decided to tour the Murphy Fire Complex in southern Idaho. Eva Strand was voted to be chair for the meeting 2010. Clayton Marlow was selected secretary but may not be available to be chair in 2011. Summary of State Reports (see full reports in appendix A of meeting minutes) Montana (Montana State University) Department: Animal and Range Sciences Degree in Natural Resources and Rangeland Ecology. Two options 1) Rangeland Ecology and 2) Wildlife Habitat. Graduates 68 students per year, 100% increase. Offers 15 range courses with two faculty members. A new industry funded building is being built on the MSU campus with classrooms and new laboratories. The department is planning to move in within a year. A national search for a new department head has been approved. Only animal science faculty on the search committee. Wyoming (University of Wyoming) Department: Renewable Resources BS degree in Rangeland Ecology and Watershed Management. MS and PhD degrees in REWM, Entomology and Soils 89 undergraduates, 69 research grants $5.6 mil. John Tanaka is the new department head as of August 2009. Twenty-three faculty in Renewable Resources. Five are at least marginally competent in range science. Nine academic professionals of which three are permanent, one is an extension specialist. Four staff members (accountants and secretaries). Approval for two new hires. Kristina Hufford in Restoration Ecology (25% outreach) is in place. The other person will be a Rangeland Systems Ecologist which has not been advertised yet. Oregon (Oregon State University) Department name: Rangeland Ecology and Management New Dean Sunny Ramaswamy (Entomology). Discussing merger between range department and animal science department. Potential new department name Animal Range Science. Five range faculty on campus in Corvallis. Two faculty in La Grande. Undergraduate 15 in Corvallis 65 in La Grande. Seven graduate students, low at the moment. Approved faculty position Arid Lands Plant Community position will be advertised when the hiring freeze is lifted. Research themes: Animal behavior related to wolf reintroduction, Riparian livestock use GIS/GPS, Weed ecology and management, DNA process to study livestock diet. New Mexico (New Mexico State University) Department of Animal and Range Sciences. NMSU's range program currently has 46 undergraduate students majoring in Range Science, and 11 graduate students. The Range Science program is scheduled for the SRM re-accreditation review in November 2009. There are six teaching faculty in Range Science (Laurie Abbott, Kelly Allred, Derek Bailey, Andres Cibils, Sam Fernald, and Jerry Holechek). Kirk McDaniel retired in Spring 2009. Research priorities focus on: livestock-vegetation interactions, livestock distribution, livestock grazing systems, plant taxonomy, invasive species ecology and management, rangeland restoration, and watershed management. Current research projects include collaborations with other departments at NMSU, USDA Jornada Experimental Range, University of Arizona, Colorado State University, and international collaborative research in Jordan. Idaho (University of Idaho) Department: Rangeland Ecology and Management Recent hires are Kelly Crane in extension and Beth Newingham in restoration ecology. The range department does not fulfill the University of Idaho criteria for department size and size of graduate program. Most likely the range department will be merged with the Forest Resources Department; however, the range curriculum and accredited program will remain as a subunit within this new department. Research topics: Rangeland and fire ecology, rangeland and livestock management, grazing management, animal behavior, and weed management, restoration ecology, ecophysiology, landscape ecology and GIS, and remote sensing. Colorado (Colorado State University) Department of Forest, Rangeland and Watershed Resources 21 undergraduates, 40 graduate students. Constant change in department heads and deans. Merger with Human Dimensions is being discussed with maintenance of degree programs. Natural Resources Ecology Laboratory is trying to become a new department. Research: Range Ecology faculty, and other faculty and research scientists at CSU engage in a diverse range of rangeland-related research including: invasive species, wetland ecology, restoration ecology (including mine and oil and gas reclamation), state and transition models, collaborative management of rangelands, global change impacts and adaptations on rangelands, among other themes.

1. A symposium on the applications of state-and-transition models at the SRM 2010 is approved, speakers are invited, and the meeting is being organized. 2. Symposium abstracts have been submitted to SRM. 3. We have secured support for publishing the proceedings from the SRM symposium from Montana State University Extension. 4. A synthesis paper based on the symposium will be submitted to REM. We discussed how to cover the page charges if the paper is accepted, this will be determined later.