"Homecoming"...

[Carl 9.3x62]

The "interesting management" I was involved in on the WMA I shot my buck off of was using cattle to kill sagebrush in an attempt to improve habitat for sage grouse.

I don't follow. Can you explain please?

And congrats on the buck! Sounds like a fun adventure.

 

[BuzzH]

Nice work and thanks for stopping by for a visit...enjoyed it.

 

[cahunter805]

Great buck! Congrats man!

 

[1_pointer]

Nice work and thanks for stopping by for a visit...enjoyed it.

Thanks for lunch!! It was a good time.

 

[1_pointer]

I don't follow. Can you explain please?

And congrats on the buck! Sounds like a fun adventure.

Warning: This will be a bit long, as I loved the work I did there and geeked out on it. This dovetailed with my MS research which looked at the vegetation response to supplement/unsupplemented fall sheep grazing. Feeding sheep a high protein source allows them to eat more sagebrush, enough to kill it if stocking density is high enough.

The area in question is a mix of BLM and State (DWR) lands. The area no longer has an annual grazing permit, but grazing has not been retired on that allotment. The area is jointly managed by the BLM and UT DWR, with sage grouse being the focus species. One of the issues facing sage grouse in this area is too much sagebrush; I know that is counter intuitive. But, sage grouse chicks can't use sage brush until they are about 6-8 weeks old, eating mostly seeds and insects until then. Likewise, a reduction in sagebrush increases herbaceous growth; making good nesting and brood rearing habitat. I was meeting with a rancher in the area and noticed that he had tall strips of grass/forbs with sagebrush inbetween where he winters his cattle. Found out those are the result of him feeding hay there late in the winter. That got my wheels turning. I worked with the BLM fuels (fire) staff and the UT DWR and hatched a plan. The rancher would winter some cattle on this piece of ground, feeding hay in areas with tall, rank stands of sagebrush. Before turning out the cattle, the areas where he'd feed the hay would be broadcast seeded with a mix of native grass/forbs. The mechanical action of the cows, plus them eating some of the sagebrush (it's relatively quite nutritious) would kill/reduce the sagebrush. Some of the areas here are full of a non-native grass (crested wheatgrass). The cattle would be removed at the first sign of the native grass species greening up.

More than a few folks were surprised at how well this worked! Even after the first year we had a great response by the vegetation. The BLM/DWR got some habitat work accomplished and it was very cost effective, as the rancher had to pay for the grazing and not a whole lot of paperwork/clearances were needed as it's not considered a ground disturbing practice. It met the rangeland objectives of getting a better mix of grass-sagebrush ratio, met fuels objectives as it reduced long term fuels, met DWR sage grouse objectives by increasing the amount/quality of nesting and brood rearing habitat and the rancher's objectives. The rancher was able to feed less hay than had they been on hayfields. The cattle got their nutrition from the hay/sagebrush and could fill their rumen with dormant grass still standing.

 

[Slm864]

Thank you for explaining in detail as I was confused at first as well. Sounds like you did a good job on the project and congrats on the nice pronghorn

 

[TheTone]

Congrats on the buck!

So are they seeing a response in increased sage grouse? What do you attribute the decline in pronghorn to?

 

[1_pointer]

Congrats on the buck!

So are they seeing a response in increased sage grouse? What do you attribute the decline in pronghorn to?

As far as I know, sage grouse are doing well in the county. As far as on the actual WMA, I don't know as I don't have access to the data or people I used to. I know in 2 days of scouting I saw more of them than I did pronghorn. Then again, with them, winter can change that drastically...

Regarding pronghorn, a bit of history needs to be told. Until the winter of 1983 pronghorn were extirpated from the county. That winter, a bad one, some moved in from WY and stayed. Even know ranchers in the area remembering seeing them in the county for the first time. So for a number if years the population grew and grew fast. I think I first showed up near the peak of that. About a decade ago, they started increasing the number of doe pronghorn in attempt to reduce and/or limit the population growth. In talking with a couple of locals, the winter two years ago was hard on both them and the deer. Said this past winter wasn't all that kind, but not as bad as the previous one. I'd attribute those two things to the fewer numbers of pronghorn. Can't imagine it's a habitat or predator issue.

The last pronghorn I shot in the county. That's my, now 13yo, in the picture...

 

[Carl 9.3x62]

Warning: This will be a bit long, as I loved the work I did there and geeked out on it. This dovetailed with my MS research which looked at the vegetation response to supplement/unsupplemented fall sheep grazing. Feeding sheep a high protein source allows them to eat more sagebrush, enough to kill it if stocking density is high enough.

The area in question is a mix of BLM and State (DWR) lands. The area no longer has an annual grazing permit, but grazing has not been retired on that allotment. The area is jointly managed by the BLM and UT DWR, with sage grouse being the focus species. One of the issues facing sage grouse in this area is too much sagebrush; I know that is counter intuitive. But, sage grouse chicks can't use sage brush until they are about 6-8 weeks old, eating mostly seeds and insects until then. Likewise, a reduction in sagebrush increases herbaceous growth; making good nesting and brood rearing habitat. I was meeting with a rancher in the area and noticed that he had tall strips of grass/forbs with sagebrush inbetween where he winters his cattle. Found out those are the result of him feeding hay there late in the winter. That got my wheels turning. I worked with the BLM fuels (fire) staff and the UT DWR and hatched a plan. The rancher would winter some cattle on this piece of ground, feeding hay in areas with tall, rank stands of sagebrush. Before turning out the cattle, the areas where he'd feed the hay would be broadcast seeded with a mix of native grass/forbs. The mechanical action of the cows, plus them eating some of the sagebrush (it's relatively quite nutritious) would kill/reduce the sagebrush. Some of the areas here are full of a non-native grass (crested wheatgrass). The cattle would be removed at the first sign of the native grass species greening up.

More than a few folks were surprised at how well this worked! Even after the first year we had a great response by the vegetation. The BLM/DWR got some habitat work accomplished and it was very cost effective, as the rancher had to pay for the grazing and not a whole lot of paperwork/clearances were needed as it's not considered a ground disturbing practice. It met the rangeland objectives of getting a better mix of grass-sagebrush ratio, met fuels objectives as it reduced long term fuels, met DWR sage grouse objectives by increasing the amount/quality of nesting and brood rearing habitat and the rancher's objectives. The rancher was able to feed less hay than had they been on hayfields. The cattle got their nutrition from the hay/sagebrush and could fill their rumen with dormant grass still standing.

Thanks for the explanation. Sounds like a win win situation.

 

[kansasdad]

@1_pointer Thanks for clarifying your work project. I did not know that cattle would utilize sagebrush like that.

 

[MarvB]

Nice goat Tyler.., congrats!

 

[VikingsGuy]

Well done!

 

[LCH]

Nice pronghorn and neat backstory Tyler.

 

[1_pointer]

@1_pointer Thanks for clarifying your work project. I did not know that cattle would utilize sagebrush like that.

They will eat it, but it's pretty low on their preference scale even though it's fairly nutritious. They killed the sagebrush mostly by mechanical action of walking on it a bunch feeding on the hay.

Sheep are a different story. They can be trained to eat sagebrush and will eat it to the point of killing it. That was a big part of my MS thesis, which the field work was conducted on the ranch across the highway from where I was hunting.

 

[stonegraham]

I finally drew a pronghorn tag in Utah for a unit that I spent a whole lot of time in for work at a previous job. Was very cool to be back in that country after being gone for 10 years. Lots are the same and some isn't. One of the things that is not are the number of pronghorn! The population is way, way lower than I remember from 10 years ago with very few good bucks spotted in 2 days of scouting and 2 days of hunitng. That said, I was able to get this buck on the second day of the hunt in an area where I helped do some pretty interesting management...
Untitled by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

DSCN2877 by Tyler Staggs, on Flickr

congrats.....