Extension Service Site Publications

• (2025) Threat-based ecostate mapping: Using big data to guide management across sagebrush landscapes Threat-based ecostate maps pull together satellite and field data to show vegetation conditions across the landscape. Land managers can use these maps to show where landscapes are functioning and where they are under threat.
• (2020) Está Allí Steen Montaña Investigación de Ciervos Mula The Bureau of Land Management is interested in reducing the presence of juniper to pre-European settlement levels throughout sensitive areas used by wildlife. The agency approached Oregon State University Extension with a proposal to study mule deer populations with the goal of producing better wildlife habitat and land management solutions. The projects started with game cameras to document the frequency of use relative to aspen and juniper stands as an index to determine how mule deer use and select areas before and after juniper tree removal.
• (2024) Sagebrush wildflowers: From bloom to seed Imperiled sagebrush ecosystems and the wildflowers they harbor support countless wildlife species. This 24"x36" poster illustrates the progression of 31 Great Basin wildflowers from bloom to seed across the growing season.
• (2023) Threat-based Management for Creeks, Streams and Rivers This guide is a decision-support tool for understanding how riparian areas such as creeks, rivers and streams should function in sagebrush ecosystems. Land managers can determine whether a riparian area is functioning properly and how to restore or maintain proper function.
• (2023) What’s on the menu? Grouse groceries in areas with cheatgrass Healthy sagebrush rangelands provide a bounty of foods for sage-grouse. Sage-grouse browse for different foods during different times of year and periods of their lives. Not all rangelands provide equal quality forage for sage-grouse.
• (2022) Ranching in the information age: The ranch hand you didn’t know you needed Eastern Oregon’s rangelands are diverse due to different soils, topography and climate. Ranchers and land managers who view the landscape as a collection of ecological sites can better predict how vegetation and other resources respond to management actions, drought and natural disturbances. This improves their rangeland management decisions and increases profits.
• (2022) Grazing Management for Rangeland Health: A Threat-based Land Management Approach The sagebrush ecosystem is shrinking at an alarming rate. Threat-based land management provides a framework for improving grazing and management and adjusting as conditions change. Monitoring and the Grazing Response Index are vital to those adjustments. So is broadening the view of grazing from converting forage into beef to seeing grazing as a resource management tool.
• (2021) Year-round field identification of common northern Great Basin grasses Learn to identify common grass species of the northern Great Basin in different plant communities.
• (2020) Downloading Ecological Site Descriptions using the Web Soil Survey This document provides how-to photo instructions on how to find and download Ecological Site Descriptions using the Web Soil Survey for use in a range management plan.
• (2020) Out There Steen Mountain Mule Deer Research The Bureau of Land Management is interested in reducing the presence of juniper to pre-European settlement levels throughout sensitive areas used by wildlife. The agency approached Oregon State University Extension with a proposal to study mule deer populations with the goal of producing better wildlife habitat and land management solutions. The projects started with game cameras to document the frequency of use relative to aspen and juniper stands as an index to determine how mule deer use and select areas before and after juniper tree removal.
• (2019) Bunchgrass phenology: Using growth stages of grasses as adaptive grazing management tools Livestock grazing in the high desert involves a balance of sustainable vegetation management in a shifting environment. Knowing which plant stages are most sensitive can help managers strategize.
• (2019) Threat-Based Land Management in the Northern Great Basin: A Field Guide Sagebrush ecosystems in the northern Great Basin are threatened by encroaching juniper and invasive annual grasses. This guide presents a simplified framework to help land managers assess and monitor these threats at large scales. By mapping out different ecological states on your land, identifying their level of risk, and estimating how those states might change, you can choose appropriate management actions.
  The publication is a full-color, double-sided poster that measures 17 x 33 inches when fully opened, and folds down to 8.5 x 11 inches. Designed specifically for use in the field, it is printed on durable paper with water-resistant inks.
  For a more in-depth resource with greater detail and background on this process, see the companion booklet Threat-Based Land Management in the Northern Great Basin: A Manager's Guide (PNW 722).
• (2019) Threat-Based Land Management in the Northern Great Basin: A Manager’s Guide Sagebrush ecosystems in the northern Great Basin are threatened by encroaching juniper and invasive annual grasses. This guide presents a simplified framework to help land managers assess and monitor these threats at large scales. By mapping out different ecological states on your land, identifying their level of risk, and estimating how those states might change, you can choose appropriate management actions.
  This booklet outlines a six-step approach to threat-based land management. For work in the field, especially identifying ecological states, see the condensed resource Threat-Based Land Management in the Northern Great Basin: A Field Guide (PNW 723), which comes as a double-sided, foldable poster.
• (2018) Western Roots: Diving into a sagebrush sea of diversity What may appear at first glance as a sea of sagebrush is in reality a complex and diverse ecosystem with a wide variety of plants and animals. The sagebrush steppe teems with life, but threats such as wildfire, grazing and invasive species are affecting the resilience of rangeland across the Northwest. Learn more about the groups of plants that make up a healthy rangeland ecosystem.