RMRS Research Biogeochemist Chuck Rhoades is partnering with Medicine Bow-Routt National Forest staff and Colorado State University researchers to develop a restoration plan for Greater sage-grouse habitat in California Park, near Hayden, Colorado. Historic land use practices combine with landscape-scale, vegetation, and soil patterns to create a mosaic of sagebrush-habitats and areas that lack sagebrush altogether. It is uncertain to National Forest System land managers whether the current vegetation patterns are a result of livestock grazing, historic herbicide use, elk browsing or are due to underlying soil differences. Building understanding of these interacting factors will help determine where and how to prioritize restoration activities.
The first step in this project is to consolidate historical and contemporary management activities into a comprehensive site history. This will be accomplished using a combination of paper and electronic records and interviews with local ranchers. Landscape, soil, seedbank and vegetation, and historic land use mapping will be used to develop preliminary hypotheses about sagebrush restoration at the California Park site.