Brief Summary of Minutes of Annual Meeting

This termination report is the result of waning interests in past WERA-21 members in continuing the committee. A survey of members indicated there is a strong need for new invigorated members to lead efforts associated with reclamation and revegetation issues that were a large part of the group's past efforts. It is therefore recommended that someone or an interested group reorganize the efforts associated with revegetation and stabilization of disturbed lands by determining which of the past WERA-21 activities should be continued along with a new list of objectives. A group of sufficient size is needed to develop these ideas and a new direction that will sustain efforts for the future of reclamation and revegetation activities. Current members who provided comments on WERA-21 indicated they have participated only rarely due to conflicts and demands of their jobs; not sure what the goals of the group are or if the group really accomplishes much anymore; group needs a plan to reinvigorate the committee; have fewer opportunities for research and collaboration; time and opportunities for participation are not what they used to be; need to recruit some new, proactive younger individuals who want to revitalize the group; tied up with other things that make it unable to support the group much; don't honestly see a compelling reason to continue the project; need to pass the leadership on to entering scientists; group appears to be getting stagnant and needs young blood; too busy to be actively engaged; perhaps what is needed is a new way to make participation more convenient, which might mean finding a new venue. A major accomplishment of the WERA-21 committee over the past 5 years has been an Annual Reports summarizing on-going research, completed studies, and products of the institutions represented by the members. Annual reports have contained an impressive list of publications from participating institutions. In addition, annual meetings with field trips have been an important part of WERA-21 group activities. Particular acknowledgments go to Gene Schupp and Pete Stahl for their preparation of annual reports and to George Vance for conducting the final survey and preparing the summaries used in this termination report.

Summary of Accomplishments 1. Annual Reports of projects and publications of participating institutions. The Report includes activities, accomplishments, and outcomes of WERA-21 members and provides stakeholders with sources of information and data from recent research conducted by committee members. The high level of publication of committee members strengthened WERA-21 value as a source for current scientific information regarding methods for effective and efficient revegetation, land stabilization, reclamation and ecosystem restoration. 2. Prepared guidelines on native species seed collection, processing and documentation. 3. Provided a list of instructional materials available from the committee. 4. Produced a photo database for instructional use. 5. Coordinated and participated in annual field tours of innovative technologies. The latest field tours included a visit to Hanford Reach National Monument to observe methods and results of sagebrush steppe restoration after cheatgrass invasion and fire. The tour highlighted interdisciplinary technologies used by USGS to reestablish sagebrush communities in highly disturbed habitats and broadened the knowledge and experience of participating committee members and the tour hosts regarding the complex interactions of cheatgrass invasions and fire. 6. Maintained a website home page that lists WERA-21 past, present and future activities and contained links to sites of related interest. The WERA-21 website continues to provide and disseminate information regarding activities and final products of the committee to stakeholders and other interested parties. 7. Updated and presented a WERA-21 poster at professional meetings documenting the committee's activities and available information. The poster was presented at the annual meetings of the American Society of Mining and Reclamation (ASMR), Billings Land Reclamation Symposium in Billings, MT, and Society for Range Management 8. Identified critical issues in revegetation and land stabilization and the research necessary to address them. Strengthened the value of WERA-21 as a source for current scientific information regarding evolving techniques for more effective revegetation and stabilization of land. 9. Sponsored or co-sponsored symposia or technical sessions on identified key issues/topics at regional, national and possibly international professional meetings (e.g., American Society for Surface Mining and Reclamation, Billings Reclamation Symposium, American Water Resources Association, Ecological Society of America, Society for Ecological Restoration, Society for Range Management, Soil Science Society of America). 10. Outputs of WERA-21 included numerous publications in peer-reviewed national and international scientific journals, several final research reports to Federal and State Land Management Agencies, a number of articles in the popular press, a wealth of data, a number of workshops presented to stakeholder groups, and a number of oral and poster presentations at national and western regional meetings in the western U.S. 11. Conducted and disseminated results of research projects. An example of a specific and organized activity of a number of WERA-21 members was the SageSTEP (Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project), a study designed to evaluate the effects of fire and fire surrogate treatments on vegetation and fuel responses on sagebrush communities of the Great Basin with the ultimate goal of developing strategies for restoring this endangered ecosystem. Other important topics of current projects include restoration of cheatgrass invasion and fire damaged sites, reclamation of lands disturbed by natural resource extraction, and revegetation and stabilization of rangelands invaded by weedy species of plants. 12. The committee had added a few new members in response to losing past participants. Expanding the committee membership to involve more qualified and interested scientists could add to the quality of the committees work. The current group's expertise is a mix of scientists representing a wide variety of disciplines involved in revegetation and land stabilization and includes botanists, soil scientists, range ecologists, weed scientists, shrub ecologists, plant materials specialists, and restoration ecologists.

The numerous publications arising from the research conducted by WERA021 participants are listed within, or as attachments to, each annual report.