New analysis highlights conservation challenges and opportunities on Western public lands
New WLFW-supported research provides a spatially detailed understanding of vegetation change on BLM-managed lands that will be critical for developing new strategies to conserve and manage public rangelands.
The research shows that both annual grass invasion and tree encroachment are ongoing and present clear threats to the health of public rangelands and the wildlife that live there.
Andrew Kleinhesselink, a WLFW-affiliated researcher with the University of Montana, utilized the Rangelands Analysis Platform to conduct an unprecedented assessment of trends in vegetation cover and production for all BLM rangelands (except Alaska) from 1991 – 2020.
Monitoring vegetation changes on the vast rangelands of the American West has long presented substantial challenges for land managers. The expansive geography and a patchwork of private, federal, tribal, and state management combine to make traditional vegetation monitoring complicated, time-consuming, and cost-intensive.
