X. Develop Regional Criteria for Management
The ultimate goal of this assessment and research strategy is to develop scientifically sound management criteria for long-term care and stewardship of piñon-juniper woodlands, and associated shrubland and grassland communities on the Colorado Plateau.
It is recognized that science alone is not the determining factor in managing piñon-juniper woodlands. Other social, political and economic factors are also key components in any long-term management strategy. Nevertheless, the development of a clear scientific understanding of the system and impacts from human activity on those systems is required for a more reasoned analysis of management proposed actions. Sound scientific understanding will also allow the development of prescriptive treatment methodologies for community conversions based on the array of variables present on the Colorado Plateau landscape (climate, soils, elevation, etc.), and the array of tools available for restorative action where required.
The development of this criteria will be a systematic and staged process that will develop over time. Initial components of the strategy could probably begin to provide information within a year. Longer term research results and experimentation could take 5-10 years to begin to provide definitive information.
The first critical step will involve a thorough review of work done to date, including research, inventory, etc. A great deal of information is already available for piñon-juniper woodlands in the western United States. We need a summary analysis of what is known and how it applies to the Colorado Plateau. This step is important to assure we don’t “re-invent” wheels and focus efforts on obtaining information and answering questions which to date have not been addressed.
Additional analytic capabilities will be available with acquisition of regional baseline GIS data and subsequent spatial analysis of that data. Such analysis can tell us a great deal about the current situatApril 15, 2007e;on-juniper woodlands, locations, land ownership, etc. In addition, this type of regional geospatial analysis may identify a host of consequent relationships we are currently unaware of, and help direct us to areas where subsequent research is necessary or should be focused.
Paleoecological reconstruction will provide critical information on how these communities developed and evolved over the past 20-40,000 years, and assist in allowing determination and identification of natural changes versus anthropogenic related changes.
Additional information will be provided by the assessment of past management treatments, and comparison against natural disturbance dynamics in untreated areas. This will help identify why some treatments were successful and why others failed.
Longer term research findings will come from a network of research sites and will be used to establish longer-term management goals and criteria. Research and information from these sites will take several years, and will allow a comprehensive understanding of community and regional dynamics oApril 15, 2007long-term guidelines for treatment methodologies and techniques.
The development and utilization of a consistent and comprehensive regional strategy by BLM will allow a coordinated effort among the research community, land managers and the general public. This should result in savings of time and money if followed. It will allow for a host of separate, yet related, activities to occur simultaneously within the broad framework of the strategy. Over time, the compilation of results from these efforts will allow BLM and other land management agencies to enhance management of piñon-juniper issues utilizing the best and most applicable science available.
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