A common vision : a strategy for integrated vegetation management in the Bureau of Land Management

2006·4.9 MB·English

by  United States. Bureau of Land Management

BLMLIBRARY
88070691 A Common BLM
Vision:
AStrategyforIntegratedVegetation Management
SB
106
.V43
L362
2006
c. 2

SB
106.
l3^2
TableofContents 'XOOU>
C-2.
ExecutiveSummary 1
ACommonVision 2
EatingtheElephantaBiteataTime 3
ACriticalTime 4
WhatisanIntegratedVegetationManagementStrategy? 4
HowThisStrategyFitsWiththeBLMandDOIStrategicPlans 5
TheRelationshipbetweenThisStrategyandtheBLMVegetation
TreatmentsEISandProgrammaticEnvironmentalReport 5
TheRelationshipBetweenthisStrategyandOtherDOIandBLMInitiatives 6
YourHelpisNeededtoDevelopthisStrategy 6
GuidingPrinciples 7
KeyDefinitions 8
PullingItTogether:SixKeyVegetationManagementIssues 9
Issue1:AlignProgramObjectivesandPriorities 9
Issue2;DevelopComplementaryAssessmentApproaches 10
Issue3: AlignLand-usePlanningDirection 10
Issue4:IntegrateOurProgramofWork 11
Issue5: ImproveManagementPractices 11
Issue6:AlignMonitoringProceduresandDirection 12
BLMLibrary
DenverFederalCenter
Bldg.50,OC-521
RO.Box25047
Denver,CO 80225
' I
“_-^_4-V-:-..••' V..'- 't
••^>'V.
n:;.
•.>
w
w
*• '*
•it»
i:c
'*r-
^
yiBidUMJa
lOtn^OIfiiDbs^lavnsQ
rs5-oo.06.Qbia
' 6^SS0v8^^o0es0x.oia9vr.0j.9'Q^
ExecutiveSummary
“Itwillbethecenturyofecologicalrestorationoritwillbenothingatall."
StephenAmbrose
Vegetationisperhapstheoneunitingfeatureofallthe261millionacrescaredforbytheBureauof
LandManagement(BLM). Yethistoryshowshowquicklythiscoreresourcecanbechangedby
invasiveweeds,wildfire,drought,grazing,recreationaluseandotheractivities.
BLMrecognizestheimportanceofvegetationmanagement. Thatrecognitionissymbolizedinthe
150-plusdifferentauthoritiesorguidelinesthatexistforvegetationmanagementwithintheagency.
Butthathugenumberalsoillustratesthecentralproblem:Acommonapproachformanaging
vegetation,onethatcanbeembracedbyavarietyofdisciplinesacrosstheagency,islacking.Asit
standsnow,BLM’sapproachtovegetationmanagementisoftenfractured,withinsufficientcrossover
amongresourcesandprogramstoachieveacohesive,coordinatedeffort.
BLMcannotaffordtoapproachvegetationmanagementinadisjointedmanner. Toomuchisat
stake.Nowispossiblythebestchanceofdevelopingandputtingintopracticeastrategythatwill
helpustoachievesustainablehealthylandscapesacrosspubliclandintheWest.
InJune2005,theBLMDirectortaskedamulti-disciplinaryteamtodevelopanintegratedvegetation
managementstrategytoalignvegetationmanagementpolicies,prioritiesanddirectionwithinBLM.
Theteamhasidentifiedsixspecificareasneedingattention: Alignprogramobjectivesandpriorities;
developacommonapproachtodescribingvegetationcondition;alignland-useplanningdirection;
removebarrierstohelpintegrateaprogramofwork;improvemanagementpractices;and,align
monitoringproceduresanddirection.Thiscommonvisionisthefirststepinaccomplishingthe
Director’sobjectives.
o
o
ACommonVision
"Theoutstandingscientificdiscoveryofthetwentiethcenturyisnottelevisionorradio,but
raaptphreercitahteechoompwlelixtitlteywoeftkhneolwaanbdoourtgaitn.i"sm. Onlythosewhoknowthemostaboutitcan
AldoLeopold
Theoneunitingfeatureofthe261millionacresoflandundertheBureauofLandManagement’s
(BLM)careistheplants-grasses,forbs,shrubs,andtrees-thatgrowuponit.Allowthevegetation
resourcetodeteriorateandthelanditselflosesitsvalue,decliningashabitat,lackinginvisualand
recreationalappeal,deprivingitofitsabilitytosustaincommunities,andbringingtoanendthechain
ofgoods,servicesandopportunitiesthatexistprimarilybecauseofthevegetationthelandsupports.
Recenthistoryshowsvegetation’sabilitytochangedramaticallyfortheworse. IntheGreatBasin
alone,morethan25millionacresofpubliclandisnowdominatedbyinvasive,non-nativespecies,
causingahugedropinproductivityandresourcehealth.AsignificantportionofwhatBLMdoes
asanagencyistieddirectlytowhatgrowsontheland. It’sthatsimpleandthatcomplex.As
AldoLeopoldwrote,onlythosewhoknowthemostaboutthelandunderstandhowlittlewereally
understand.
Recognitionofthatfactmakesthemanagementofvegetationoneofthemostvitalandcrucialof
BLM’sresponsibilities. Itshowsinthevastnumberofpolicy,guidance,planning,legislativeand
generalprinciplesthattheagencydealswithwhenitcomestomanagingvegetation. Further,an
arrayofresourcedisciplines,fromrangelandtoforestrytofiretoweedmanagementandbeyond,has
itsowntakeandmethodsofhowvegetationmanagementshouldbecompleted.Asurveyofcurrent
vegetationmanagementandpolicyguidancerevealsmorethan150differentauthoritiesorguidelines
forvegetationmanagementwithintheagency.Sometimes,theseeffortsarecomplementary.At
othertimes,theyareatoddswithoneanother. Somearewellknown,somearecollectingduston
bookshelvesandindeskdrawers.
Allofthispointstooneclearfact. Giventheimportanceofthevegetationresourceandthemultitude
ofguidance,it’simperativethatBLMpulltogetheracommonapproachforrestoringlandhealth
throughintegratedvegetationmanagement. It’simportant,too,thatpoliciesandpracticesatodds
witheachotherbeidentifiedandreconciled. It’scritical,tothedegreepossible,thatthedisciplines’
approachestovegetationmanagementbealignedunderonecommonvision,pointedtowardone
commongoal.
2
o
o
EatingtheElephantaBiteataTime
Severalattemptshavebeenmadetoproducethatkindofalignment,butforavarietyofreasons,not
muchhasmaterialized. InJune2005,amulti-resourceteammetinBoise,Idaho,tobeginthework
ofaligningvegetationmanagementpolicies,prioritiesanddirectionwithinBLM. Oneofthemain
goalsoftheteamwastohelpthefielddevelopintegratedworkplansandmeetprogramland-health
goalsmoreefficiently. Aspecificassignmentwastoreconcilethelandhealthassessmentprocesses
beingusedindifferentprogramareasanddevelopcommonobjectivesandprioritiesforrestoring
landhealth,whilecoordinatingeffortswiththeBureau’sMonitoringStrategyTeam,andconsidering
thework’srelationshipwiththeVegetationTreatmentsonBLMLandsEnvironmentalImpact
Statement,theGreatBasinRestorationInitiative,andotherrelatedefforts. Theteamalsorecognized
thateachprogramcontainsuniquevegetationmanagementgoalsandobjectives,whichshouldbe
accountedforinwhateverguidanceiseventuallyproduced.
Theteamassignmentwasambitious. Severalsubgroupswereorganizedtoaddressbroadtopics.The
topicsexaminedbythesubgroupsare:
1. Alignprogramobjectivesandprioritiesandimproveresourceallocationtomeetcommon
vegetationmanagementgoals.
2. Developacommonapproachtodescribingandassessingvegetativecondition.
3. Alignland-useplanningdirectionforvegetationmanagementinland-useplanning.
4. Designaprocessforremovingbarrierstohelpintegrateaprogramofwork.
5. Improvemanagementpracticestofosterland-healthobjectives.
6. Alignmonitoringproceduresanddirection,includingcoordinatingeffortswiththeNational
MonitoringStrategyTeamandwiththeWildlandFireLeadershipCouncil’smonitoringstrategy.
InasubsequentmeetinginBoiseinFebruary2006,thesubgroupsbeganworkonanintegrated
vegetationmanagementstrategy,includingrecommendations. Thisreportrepresentsasummaryof
theirwork.
Thisreportisdividedintotwomajorparts. Thefirstisthenarrative,whichgivesanoverviewof
thevegetationmanagementeffortsandwhattheteamthinksshouldbedonetoresolveissues. The
secondpartofthereportisthe“ActionPlan,”whichtakestheformofastatementofthecurrent
situationandactionsrecommendedbytheteamtoresolvetheissue. Together,thenarrativeand
theActionPlanprovideageneralguideforwhatshouldtakeplaceregardingintegratedvegetation
managementinBLM. Theultimateproductofthevegetationmanagementteamandtheworkof
otherswillbeahandbookthatincorporatestheinformationanddirectionneededbyfieldoffices
throughoutBLM.
kl
sp
f?ti3:cvm.'rJ
™.
-rt/
jf**' *’ tcW
>r‘J^hlicih''i.•''liUUUU''ikttifTfft'' .
«te
T«•>''*ljr>/*r
was - r
jpi'#J’4?*f^<1:“?^“,
r.I
M f
i^5e:>4p)b'.‘•<!*?<
hH‘i
^rf*'fWl>!^
v'r^'•.»'Aii .V'.i^J:tt/p'^iw^Ui>rs‘/-I
P?
^•Tr-*