NOTICE OF INTENT: Rangeland Health Condition Assessments for Livestock Allotments at Dinosaur National Monument

Description

Project Goals â¿¿ The result expected from this project is to present and deliver information on current rangeland health condition (soil/site stability, hydrologic function, and biotic integrity) on ten domestic livestock allotments in the park. A current rangeland health condition assessment on each livestock allotment is the primary data deficiency park staff wishes to address, and this project proposal will provide the resources to complete these assessments. Lacking this information, the development of allotment-based grazing management plans cannot occur, further jeopardizing DINOâ¿¿s ability to protect and promote resiliency in native upland and riparian vegetation communities across one-third of the monument The park staff envisions adaptive livestock management plans for each allotment that results in a trend toward desired conditions and a state of acceptable rangeland health. The park would establish a rangeland monitoring program that captures short- and long-term trends and that uses qualitative and quantitative metrics to document rangeland health, vegetation trends, and forage availability. The rangeland health assessments supported by this project will help managers identify components of rangeland health that may need to be improved and those that are acceptable and need to be maintained. This information will support the development of management objectives and identification of livestock grazing management recommendations and associated monitoring needed to ensure that progress is being made toward meeting those objectives.

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