A Note from Dave:
Fall is in the air and the recent moisture with cooler temperatures are very much appreciated – especially after the horrible fires that have affected many of our stakeholders and friends across Oregon.
EOARC activities the past couple of months include helping sponsor the 2024 Eastern Oregon Economic Summit that was hosted by the Eastern Oregon Women’s Coalition, hosting the OSU/EOARC Range Field day with the assistance of the crew from the Starkey Experimental Forest and Range, hosting a taco feed at the 2024 Harney County Fair for all youth exhibitors, and providing information and resources, including Science Support for Emergency Stabilization and Rehabilitation Planning, for communities, agencies, and individual stakeholders affected by the wildfires that have burned almost 2 million acres in central/eastern Oregon. I want to especially commend the continuing efforts of Chad Boyd, Katie Wollstein, and Dustin Johnson in helping stakeholders affected by the wildfires. They have not spent much time in the office lately as they have been attending meetings, tours, and post-fire site visits across central and eastern Oregon.
EOARC had good representation at the American Society of Animal Science/Canadian Society of Animal Science/Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science meeting in Calgary, Alberta, with numerous presentations by faculty and graduate students. In addition, I had the honor of being installed as President of the Western Section of the American Society of Animal Science.
Here locally, it was great to see Ms. Cara Goss-Bodily (photo courtesy of Susan Doverspike) show her EOARC donated heifer at the 100th Harney County Fair as part of the Harney County Stockgrowers Youth Heifer Placement Program. She did an excellent job getting her heifer halter broke and ready for the show, which resulted in her winning 1st place in her class!!! We also found out that her heifer is pregnant and will have a calf next Spring. We look forward to following her progression with the heifer and watching her show her project as a cow/calf pair at the 2025 Harney County Fair.
The EOARC Stakeholder Spotlight for this issue is Tom Sharp who has been a great supporter of OSU, EOARC, is a valued member of the EOARC Burns Advisory Committee and is active in a number of community and industry organizations associated with natural resource management and community safety.
If you have any comments or suggestions about what you would like to see in future editions of the newsletter please feel free to contact Shellie Tiller (shellie.tiller@oregonstate.edu) and she will work with us to try get all requests addressed.
I hope you are all well!
David Bohnert
Director, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center (Burns and Union Stations)
Oregon State University
A Note from Chad:
Greetings from Burns and I hope you had a good summer.
At the SageCon Partnership annual meeting on September 24-25, land managers from across eastern Oregon were polled as to what management topic they were most interested in at the moment. Not surprisingly, given the summer we’ve had, the clear winner was post-fire management of sagebrush rangeland.
As of September 17 we had just shy of 2 million acres burn in Oregon this year, with 1.2 million of those acres being eastern Oregon rangeland. This year seems different from previous big fire years in that there have been larger numbers of private landowners impacted (in addition to BLM, USFS, and state managed lands) and there were multiple megafires (greater than 100,000 acres) in both forested and sagebrush rangeland ecosystems.
EOARC has been actively engaged in post-fire activities on multiple fronts. We’ve worked with multiple private landowners in both forest and rangeland environments to plan next steps in mitigating both the immediate effects of wildfire as well as developing management practices to help bring about long-term recovery of plant communities. Similarly, we’ve worked with a variety of agency partners on post-fire rehab issues impacting both private and public landholdings and provided them with science resources that can be used to help inform post-fire management decisions. Katie Wollstein organized a community meeting in Burns and participated in a similar Malheur County meeting to assist impacted landowners in finding resources needed to help get back on their feet after wildfire. We are working with the Gilliam County SWCD and other partners to design a virtual fencing system for a multitude of landowners who collectively lost hundreds of miles of fencing to wildfire this summer. We designed a threat-based strategic post-fire planning framework using publicly available geospatial data to help direct and prioritize management actions on large burned landscapes. That product has been of interest to both private landowners and agencies and we used it as a basis for multiple workshops on strategic post-fire management planning attended by NRCS, SWCDs, private landowners, and watershed councils. This week we presented and took questions on that framework at the annual SageCon meeting in Prineville. Between now and the next big fire year our goal is to use this framework to help inform actions managers can take before fire to promote more resilient rangelands after fire.
In our ARS employee spotlight we are highlighting Maureen Puffer who joined us recently and is doing an outstanding job as a research technician within our ARS weeds program. Welcome to the EOARC team Mo! Lastly, a big shout-out to our highlighted stakeholder Tom Sharp. Tom is an amazing resource for our county and for eastern Oregon. He has dedicated untold hours to leadership roles in OCA, sage-grouse management, and rural fire/emergency preparedness and is a valued member of the EOARC family. Thank you for all you do Tom.
Thanks to Shellie for all of your work in getting the newsletter together, and as always, please feel free to reach out to me any time we can be of help.
Chad Boyd
Research Leader, Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center, Burns
USDA-Agricultural Research Service
A Note from Cameron:
Happy fall and hoping that folks are feeling some small relief from this year’s hot, smoky, and stressful summer.
Our TNC field crew has been hard at work in the field drill seeding, herbicide spraying, and testing scaled-up applications of our herbicide protection carbon seed coatings. The logistics involved in coordinating efforts among agency partners and getting these trials in the ground across eastern Oregon and northern Nevada are mindboggling- kudos to our team for their hard work and expertise!
I’ve been fortunate to have the opportunity to work with the EOARC in developing postfire restoration guidance in the wake of the extreme fire season we had this year. With wide-ranging impacts to producer livelihoods and sagebrush systems, decisions on what management to apply and where to apply it to ensure success can be daunting. This decision support tool can help land managers allocate capacity where they have the highest chance of achieving desired outcomes and can help landowners be competitive in applying for relief funds. It has been extremely rewarding to cocreate this tool with the EOARC, local producers, and management agency partners, and I am hopeful that it can be used to ease a small part of the stress and pain felt this fall.
This decision support tool relies on a suite of remotely-sensed data products. Burn severity maps are a key component of this calculus, providing information on factors such as the likelihood of postfire soil erosion. New research efforts at the EOARC will improve the utility of these products by linking postburn satellite products to expected bunchgrass mortality. This will inform post wildfire seeding needs and further strategically direct restoration efforts, while also reducing the use of seed in areas where natural postfire recovery is likely.
The Nature Conservancy’s multistate Sagebrush Sea Program is currently in the process of planning our priorities for the next 5 year period. Areas of interest include the creations of stepdown guidance to link broad spatial prioritization efforts to scales relevant to the producer and land manager decision space. In other words, once stakeholders have considered vegetation, habitat, cattle forage, and cultural values to identify priority areas, how can management activities engineer resilience and resilience to wildfire and annual grass invasion? These efforts build upon threat-based strategic conservation and defend and grow the core principles. They are necessary to facilitate smart management across the large acreages and varied jurisdictions of our sagebrush landscapes.
That’s all for now, and please feel free to reach out with any questions!
Cameron Duquette
Rangeland Scientist, The Nature Conservancy
A Note from Bryan:
As another busy summer draws to a close, I want to share some updates about our activities over the past several months. Partnerships and collaborations are central to our work, and our recent efforts highlight the importance of working together to address a wide range of complex natural resource challenges.
In Wallowa County, we partnered with OSU Extension, Wallowa Resources, Wallowa Land Trust, and the County to implement virtual fence technology to support sustainable grazing on the East Moraine Community Forest (EMCF), just next to scenic Wallowa Lake. EMCF is managed as a working community forest, protecting native plants, wildlife habitat, and cultural resources while providing non-motorized recreational access and returns to the local economy through sustainable forestry and grazing. The project is a great, highly visible showcase for the public of virtual fence technology and would not have been possible without the support and contributions of many. In particular, Pete Schreder at OSU Extension, Marci Schreder from Wallowa Resources, and the entire "virtual fence" team at EOARC-Burns have been instrumental in getting this project off the ground.
Our partners at The Nature Conservancy (TNC) are invaluable in training the next generation of natural resource managers and scientists. Last week, TNC hosted 17 students at Zumwalt Prairie Preserve, for a one-week field course on rangeland monitoring and analysis. TNC welcomed the class with open arms and generously shared their time, knowledge, and expertise. A highlight for the students was spending time with Mike Hale (NE Oregon Rangeland Specialist) conducting end-of-year utilization monitoring on the prairie. Providing opportunities for students to engage with professionals is an invaluable experience, and a big thanks to Mike Hale, Jeff Fields, and the rest of the TNC staff at Zumwalt for their assistance and support in providing such a unique opportunity for students.
We also had the opportunity to partner on a research project evaluating native plant responses to the herbicide indaziflam in the Pacific Northwest Bunchgrass ecosystems of the region. There is a lot of interest in incorporating indaziflam into rangeland weed management and restoration plans, but little research has been conducted in the region, and even less is known on how native plants, particularly native forbs (many of which are of cultural significance to Native American communities) respond to treatments. A big shout out to Mark Porter (Oregon Department of Agriculture), the TNC crew at Zumwalt (Jeff, Mike H., Mike B, and J Johansen), Cheryl Shippentower (CTUIR), Cameron Duquette and crew out of Burns (TNC) and a host of OSU undergraduate research technicians who all came together to get this experiment rolling. Results will be of interest to many and the project addresses a high priority research gap in the region.
I hope these examples showcase the participatory and collaborative nature of our work. While collaborations require more coordination and planning (and more Teams/Zoom meetings...everyone's favorite pastime), they pool expertise, energy, resources and perspectives, enabling highly effective, relevant, and impactful projects. We truly value our partners and collaborators and are deeply grateful for their contributions. We look forward to continuing and expanding our partnerships into the future.
Bryan Endress
Assistant Director EOARC - Union
Stakeholder Spotlight - Tom Sharp
Thirty years ago, my wife (Pat) and I were invited by friends in the Diamond area to visit Harney County. We never anticipated then, that someday, we would become stakeholders influenced by EOARC and OSU Extension in the management of livestock or the management and recovery of natural resources upon our acquired ranchland properties in Harney County. At that time, Pat was an educator and public-school administrator in the Tigard-Tualatin School District, and I was an electrical engineer engaged in industrial automation systems, wireless communications, and a global manager of new product development for Tektronix’ World Headquarters in Beaverton, Oregon. Our “Oregon Trail” journey came about after my corporate career relocated our family from Dayton, Ohio, to St. Louis, Missouri, and then to Portland, Oregon. Pat and I were also beginning to think ahead about our professional career retirements, and that we would soon become “empty nesters” when our two sons (Rob and Tom Jr.) would go into military service and graduate from Oregon State University and the University of Portland. For the first ten years of our Harney County ranch ownership, Pat and I still had not retired from our jobs on the “other side of Oregon”. We commuted over 600 miles roundtrip almost every weekend year around between the Portland area and Harney County to build our corrals and fences, produce and grow a cowherd, learn to ride horses, process and brand calves in the springtime, wean and sell calves in the fall, and wear out two pickup trucks from hard use after an estimated 250,000 miles of commuting. Needless to say, the background of my family and our experiences is probably not typical of most ranching families!
In 2007, Pat and I finally became fulltime residents of Harney County with our home and ranching operations now located 10 miles northeast of Burns near Prather Creek and the Malheur Forest boundary and with grazing property located 50 miles south of Burns in the Jack Mountain area. Our intent was to transition from our past professional careers into ranching, but Pat (as an educator) was soon recruited to become Superintendent of Crane Schools for the next 4 years, and I (as an electrical engineer) was recruited to assist Columbia Energy Partners in the development of a large wind energy generation project proposed for the northern Steens Mountain.
My first significant stakeholder relationship with EOARC and OSU Extension began in 2011 (and still continues today) when I became Chairperson of the “Harney County Sage-Grouse CCAA Steering Committee”. This has been a successful collaborative effort amongst landowners, state and federal agencies, scientists, and conservation groups which prevented an ESA listing of the Greater Sage-Grouse candidate species. In 2014 our committee successfully secured a CCAA conservation agreement with USFWS that became the adapted model for other affected Oregon counties and amongst 10 other western states based upon conservation actions necessary to protect and recover degraded ecological habitats necessary for Greater Sage-Grouse species survival: healthy rangeland habitat conditions, disaster recovery of natural resources, and proper ongoing monitoring and resource management. Landowner participants recognized the “win-win” outcomes of natural resource management which achieves healthy rangeland habitats benefiting both their livestock grazing interests and also for the protection of other wildlife species. “Good for the Bird, and Good for the Herd” became the slogan that was popularized to describe Harney County’s successful CCAA Steering Committee efforts.
My working relationships with the scientists and staff of EOARC and OSU Extension has enabled me to share EOARC’s outreach of science-based research, the application of new technologies, and best practices for natural resource management with other stakeholders through my subsequent involvement in other associations, as: ESA Committee Chair for the Oregon Cattleman’s Association and later as OCA President; Harney County Wildfire Collaborative; EOARC Advisory Committee, and most recently Chair of the North Harney Rangeland Fire Protection Association.
Today, the 3rd generation of the Sharp family now lives and ranches in Harney County!
ARS Employee Spotlight - Maureen 'Mo' Puffer
Hello! My name is Maureen Puffer, but most people know me as Mo. I was born and raised in rural SE Minnesota. After leaving my hometown I spent my time attending different educational institutions and bopping around the US working a variety of natural resources jobs. I arrived in Oregon December of 2022 and started a soil conservationist position with the NRCS in John Day. When a position opened up with ARS at the EOARC I was excited for the opportunity to both be closer to my partner and get back into ecological restoration research, one of my greatest interests. I began my position as a biological technician in the Sheley Lab in November of 2023. Since my arrival I have been busy processing a backlog of root and insect samples and conducting field work and data analysis. My familiarity with insect identification was fairly basic prior to my arrival, but I have learned a lot about insect identification, particularly with respect to the parasitic wasp and fly families. These efforts will help us determine what, if any, differences there are in the insect communities/functional groups between grazed and ungrazed treatments.
Outside of work I spend my time with my partner, our dog Knuckles, and Brick, our kitty. Knuckles is a relatively new addition to our lives but has been a great companion for exploring Harney and Grant countries and beyond. I absolutely love botanizing and enjoy finding and revisiting local systems where I can watch the changes in species composition over the seasons. Recently I’ve taken my love of plants to a new level and started creating “art” with plants at the local ceramics studio which is an awesome place to foster one’s creative side. Otherwise, I enjoy hiking, “hunting” (i.e. wandering around while my partner and Knuckles actually hunt), sewing, cooking, and catching up with my family in Minnesota. Oregon is the seventh state I’ve lived in and it’s among the highest ranked, in my book. The EOARC community, along with the greater Harney County community, have been very welcoming and I’m grateful to have landed myself a job here.
Infrastructure Upgrades at EOARC
EOARC Burns has expanded its office space with a new modular building, providing five additional offices and room for summer technicians to work. This is a great addition to the Burns station.
At EOARC Burns, we are excited about the construction of our new parking lot, this expansion will provide ample space for both staff and visitors. It is conveniently located near our new modular building and also our conference room.
EOARC Burns and Union are receiving new HVAC units, a much-needed upgrade since the current units are many years old. This enhancement will significantly improve the workspace and conference rooms.
We have been working hard to make EOARC Union a more functional research facility. The new propagation lab will significantly aid researchers in conducting their projects.
Outreach, Educational Activities & More
Range Field Day/Starkey - July 9, 2024 Josh Averett, a PhD student in Rangeland Sciences shares research findings related to riparian restoration and ungulate herbivory (cattle, elk, deer) as part of the Range Field Day held at Starkey Experimental Forest and Range. In addition to presentations from Josh and other EOARC scientists including Dr. David Bohnert, Dr. Chad Boyd, and Dr. Bryan Endress, attendees had the opportunity to hear from many key research partners including Cheryl Shippentower (Umatilla Indian Reservation), Dr. Sandy Debano (OSU-HAREC), Dr. Casey Brown (ODFW), Dr. Mike Wisdom (USFS), Dr, Bryan Stevens (USFS), Allen Childs (Umatilla Indian Reservation), Dr. Adam Price (USFS), and Aric Johnson (USFS).
ASAS-CSAS-WSASAS Annual Meeting - July 21-25, 2024 EOARC had an impressive presence at the American Society of Animal Science/Western Section annual meeting in Calgary, Alberta. Dr. Dave Bohnert, Dr. Juliana Ranches, and graduate students Aline Santos and Erica Ferri de Oliveira all delivered presentations.
SageCon Summit, September 24-25, 2024 Six of us from EOARC attended the SageCon Partnership Summit in Prineville. We reconnected with partners, learned about recent conservation efforts around eastern Oregon, and reflected on the 2024 fire season impacts in sagebrush rangelands. Vanessa Schroeder moderated a panel highlighting the experiences of members of collaborative partnerships from Crook and Lake Counties who participated in our Threat-Based Strategic Conservation (TBSC) workshops last spring. Katie Wollstein and Chad Boyd presented their new TBSC-informed post-fire planning framework (co-developed with Dustin Johnson and Cameron Duquette) aimed to help make tough decisions about prioritizing rehabilitation activities and resources after wildfire events a little easier and a lot more strategic. We spent the second day in the field, learning from local Prineville agency staff and landowners about local ecology and how they’ve build relationships in the area.
Post-Fire Planning - For much of August and September, EOARC scientists Chad Boyd (ARS), Katie Wollstein (OSU), Dustin Johnson (OSU), and Cameron Duquette (TNC) were visiting areas affected by this year’s wildfires and providing guidance to landowners and agencies facing fire rehabilitation decisions. On September 5th and 10th, they offered post-fire planning trainings for Natural Resource Conservation Service staff in the Snake River and John Day-Umatilla Basins as well as members of the Malheur Rangeland Partnership. These trainings aimed to help attendees think through difficult decisions about where to direct recovery efforts and limited resources following fire where impacted rangelands are prone to annual grass invasion. EOARC shared with attendees tools and a planning framework that can be used to identify appropriate management actions and priorities within large burned landscapes, or on a private land holding within a larger fire perimeter. We are hopeful that through these hands-on trainings, producers, agency, and county staff involved in post-fire rehabilitation decisions will gain confidence selecting treatments and identifying priorities in the immediate aftermath of fire events.
Recent Publications
Variation in the Role of the Flag-Leaf in Reproductive Effort of Semiarid Rangeland Bunchgrasses
Hamerlynck, Erik P., K.M. Quigley, R.C. O’Connor
https://doi.org/10.1002/ecs2.4870
Effects of Dormant Season and Contemporary Spring-Summer Grazing on Plant Community Composition in the Sagebrush Ecosystem
Schroeder, Vanessa M., D.D. Johnson, K.W. Davies, C.S. Boyd, R.C. O’Connor
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2024.07.006
Spotlight
It’s always good to be thinking about preparing for wildfire. Check out the Extension Fire Program’s webinars, readiness checklists, and other resources related to wildfire preparedness here.
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