Techniques for assessing the environmental outcomes of conservation practices applied to rangeland watersheds

SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION During its first five years, Grazing Land CEAP established research and assessment efforts designed to estimate the effects and benefits of conservation practices through a combination of research, data collection, model development, and model applica-tion over a range of scales (i.e., pasture to watershed to river basin). Grazing Land CEAP has successfully developed hillslope scale soil erosion models for water and wind erosion, as well as approaches and methodologies to produce scientifically credible estimates of environmental bene-fits and impacts of conservation on grazing lands at the hillslope scale (RHEM) and watershed scale using the KINEROS, SWAT, and AGWA models. The next major steps for Grazing Land CEAP are as follows: • Develop databases to accurately describe the distribution of plant communities across the west at a scale that we can measure the impact of conservation.• Develop database to accurately describe the bio-physical attributes (i.e., plant canopy cover, ground cover, species, standing biomass) within each plant community (vegetation polygon).• Develop database to document the type and placement of conservation practices across the landscape.• Develop means of documenting addi-tional conservation benefits, such as soil quality and the social and eco-nomic benefits of conservation. Grazing Land CEAP findings and results will be used to report progress on the envi-ronmental effects of USDA conservation programs, aid discussions on conservation policy development, guide conservation program implementation, and ultimately help ranchers and land managers make informed conservation choices based on sound science. Anticipated products and impact of the Grazing Land CEAP work include the following: • Development of new site-specific risk assessment tools specifically designed and validated for use on rangelands.• Development of watershed assessment tools designed to estimate optimal con-servation practice type and placement to minimize conservation investments and maximize cumulative conservation benefit over a range of scales.• Determination of the status and extent of nonfederal western rangelands.• Development of a database for national, regional, and local assessments.• Documentation of management prac-tices currently in place.• Assessment of unmet conservation needs on western grazing lands.