introduction
background
background
objectives
data description
pj wood database
tutorial
pj map server
pj map server
gis data
contacts acknowledgements
 
Background:

 

Artist rendering of a treatment plans
Planning photo and artist rendering of chaining plan for the 462 acre Chicken Coop Draw treatment of 1979.


Pinyon-Juniper (PJ) woodland is the 3rd largest vegetation type in the US. Covering 35.5% of the Colorado Plateau, and is the largest vegetation type administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) on the Colorado Plateau (Mast et al 1996). These woodlands have been increasing dramatically in density and extent over the last 100 years (West 1999). In response to this increase and a concomitant loss of grasslands, the BLM has been actively treating these lands by removing pinyon and juniper and seeding with desired vegetation since the 1950's. (Sydoriak 2000) To date, over 700 treatments with varying methods have been applied across ~700,000 acres of PJ woodland on BLM lands. Increasing pressure to manage pinyon-juniper woodlands at the wilderness-urban interface is a driving force in management decisions for fuel hazards reduction (Rome et al 2003).

Recognizing the value of historical data as a reference for future land management decisions, in 2000 the BLM Colorado Plateau Science Committee adopted a regional Pinyon-Juniper Management Strategy outlining the need for collecting and synthesizing current regional information in order to better understand PJ communities, the dynamics of encroachment, and long-term management. The Merriam-Powell Center for Environmental Research ( MPCER ) at Northern Arizona University (NAU) is collaborating with the BLM to archive all past pinyon-juniper removal and re-vegetation treatment projects the BLM has completed across the Colorado Plateau. PJWOOD contains both relational and GIS databases of treatment that will facilitate research, landscape level analyses, and regional land management planning.

Last Update: 9/29/08
Contact: pj.wood@nau.edu

merriam powell center