Great Basin: Wildfires, Invasive Species, & Climate Change

Mike PellantGreat Basin Restoration Initiative Coordinator

Boise, ID

Cheatgrass

Great Basin

Owner Acres

BLM 73 millionPrivate 29 million

USFS 19 million

State 4 million

DOD 3 million

Tribes 2 million

Other 5 million

Total 135 million

Great Basin

-Fire Suppression- $126 M

-Fire Rehabilitation-$71 M

-Loss of Sagebrush & Sage-grouse

-Social-Economic Impacts

Great Basin Wildfires 1990-2007 (2007 in red)

2007

2007 Costs:

Great Basin: Wildfires Are the Symptom…. Invasive Plants/Loss of Land Health is the Illness

Invasive species:

•Flammable exotic annual grasses

•Native conifer encroachment

•Exotic forbs

Cheatgrass

Juniper Encroachm

ent

Knapweed

Expanding cheatgrass invasions into previously cold-limited environments (Keeley and McGinnis 2007) and sagebrush “migration” to the northern portion of the Great Basin (Neilson 2006)....many social, economic, legal, and ecological implications.

Climate Change- Increased Temperature

Southern Idaho sagebrush

Sagebrush Juniper

Cheatgrass in Ponderosa Pine

Rising CO2 is predicted to increase the success of annual plants such as cheatgrass (Smith et. al 1987) and increase lignin (less digestible) content in cheatgrass (Ziska et al. 2005) ...more fires!

Cheatgrass

Climate Change- Increased CO2

“We are confronted by insurmountable opportunities”

Pogo

SageSTEP-Fire/Fire Surrogates in the Sagebrush Biome

SageSTEP Research Team

http://www.sagestep.org

Great Basin Integrated Landscape Monitoring Project

http://www.usgs.gov/features/greatbasin/index.html

Murphy Complex Wildfire: Livestock-Murphy Complex Wildfire: Livestock-Fuels Workgroup Report Fuels Workgroup Report

http://pubs.usgs.gov/of/2008/1214/

Great Basin: Challenges for the Future

• Invasives and climate change interactions

• Better regional climate change predictions

• Population expansion effects on water,

wildfires, and invasive species

• Potential for Carbon sequestration on

rangelands

“Healthy Great Basin landscapes and sustainable resources that meet the

needs of the public that use and enjoy these lands”