In Colorado, local Extension agents are relied on to address a growing range of topics with limited resources. This hybrid program, funded by a Western SARE grant, provides range management training to local agents across the state, ensuring that agents can effectively address a clearly identified need among Colorado land managers. In 2022, we hosted an interactive webinar series, followed by a field day. We hosted 3 more field days in 2023 and 2024, and one in-person workshop.
Recorded Range School Sessions and Resources
| Title | Format | Date |
| Intro to Colorado Rangelands and Range Science | Webinar | Tuesday, January 18, 2022 |
| Grazing Management | Webinar | Wednesday, February 16, 2022 |
| Rangeland Assessment and Monitoring | Webinar | Tuesday, March 29, 2022 |
| Drought, Invasive species, and restoration | Webinar | Tuesday, April 19, 2022 |
| Adaptive management, bringing it all together | Webinar | Wednesday, May 11, 2022 |
| Regional workshops + Field days | Face-to-face | -Eastern Plains – Summer 2022 -Northwest Colorado – Summer 2023 –Regional Workshop – Spring 2024 -CO Environmental Plant Materials Center Tour – Summer 2024 |
Readings & Resources
CSU Extension Range Management website
Session 1:
Recording of Session 1 (except breakout sessions)
Websites
- Glossary of range management terms (including definition of “rangeland”)
- Description of types of rangeland, in Colorado and beyond
- including: shortgrass prairie, sagebrush steppe, and pinyon-juniper woodland
- Website with tons of information about rangeland ecology and more
- ESD access website
Readings
- Fuhlendorf and Engle– 2001- Restoring heterogeneity on rangelands (a classic)
- Fuhlendorf et al.– 2017- Heterogeneity as the basis for rangeland management (dense but worth it)
- Bestelmeyer and Briske– 2012- Grand challenges for resilience-based management of rangelands
- Reid et al – 2014- Dynamics and resilience of rangelands and pastoral peoples around the world (international perspective)
- Provenza et al– 2013- Complex Creative Systems
- New Tools for Land Management: Putting Ecological Site Descriptions to Use on Your Ranch
- Interagency Ecological Site Handbook (sections 2 and 5 have good information on ESDs)
Session 2:
Websites
Readings
- Grissom and Steffens– 2013- Case Study: Adaptive Grazing Management at Rancho Largo Cattle Company
- Bailey and Provenza– 2008- Mechanisms determining large herbivore distribution
- Sanderson et al– 2020- Cattle, conservation, and carbon in the western Great Plains
- Milchunas et al– 1988- A generalized model of the effects of grazing by large herbivores
Session 3:
Websites
Readings
- Monitoring Manual for Grassland, Shrubland, and Savanna Ecosystems
- Interpreting Indicators of Rangeland Health, v5
- Colorado Rangeland Monitoring Guide
- Recent special issue of Rangelands on “Adaptive Monitoring to Support Adaptive Management”
Session 4:
(didn’t record- sorry!)
Websites
- U.S. Drought Monitor (explore the site, more than just the current ratings)
- GrassCast– forage production forecasts (only for Eastern CO)
- Intermountain West Climate Dashboard (lots of current data)
- CSU Extension Drought Resources
- Case Study of Drought Planning in SE Colorado
- UNL- Managing Drought Risk on the Ranch (Great Plains)
- Colorado Natural Heritage Program– Invasive Species Info
- Rangelands Gateway- Invasive Plants
- Rangelands Gateway- Vegetation Management and Restoration
Readings
- Vasquez et al– 2010- Invasive Plants on Rangelands: A Global Threat
- DiTomaso et al– 2018- Invasive Plant Species and Novel Rangeland Systems
- Thurow and Taylor– 1999- Viewpoint: The role of drought in range management
- Derner and Augustine– 2016- Adaptive management for drought on rangelands
- Howery– 2016- Rangeland management before, during, and after drought
Session 5:
Websites
- Adaptive Management on Wikipedia (a good summary!)
- Adaptive Management: The DOI Guide
Readings
- Allen et al– 2017- Adaptive Management of Rangeland Systems
- Gosnell et al– 2020- A half century of Holistic Management: What does the evidence reveal?
- McCord and Pilliod– 2022- Adaptive monitoring in support of adaptive management in rangelands
- Wilmer et al– 2018- Collaborative Adaptive Rangeland Management Fosters Management-Science Partnerships
Recorded Materials from the In-Person Pinyon-Juniper Management & Virtual Fence Workshop
- March 12, 2024 | Western Colorado Campus, Grand Junction, CO
- Hosted by TNC’s Canyonlands Research Center & CO Section of the Society for Range Management.
- Sponsored by the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program.
How do we balance fuel & forage management, habitat, and Pinyon-Juniper ecosystem conservation?
Participants learned about key issues and how managers and scientists are dealing with conflicting management mandates in the face of global change.
This material is based upon work that is supported by the National Institute of Food and Agriculture, U.S. Department of Agriculture, under award number G352-21-W8617 through the Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education program under project number WPDP21-017. USDA is an equal opportunity employer and service provider. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the view of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.
