Proceedings: Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium Boise State University Boise, Idaho June 21-23, 1999 Including: Summary Report: Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area Habitat Restoration Workshop Boise State University Boise, Idaho June 23-25, 1999 Compilers: Patricia G. Entwistle Ann M. DeBolt Julienne H. Kaltenecker Karen Steenhof Publisher: Bureau of Land Management Idaho State Office Boise, Idaho, USA Publication No. BLM/ID/PT-001001+1150 Citation: [Entwistle, P.G., A.M. DeBolt, J.H. Kaltenecker, and K. Steenhof, compilers. 2000. Proceedings: Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium. Bureau of Land Management Publication No. BLM/ID/PT-001001+1150, Boise, Idaho, USA.] Acknowledgments The following people served on the advisory committee to plan the Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium and the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area Habitat Restoration Workshop: Bill Casey • Bill Clark • Jamie Connell • Ann DeBolt • Pat Entwistle • Cindy Fritz Krista Gollnick-Waid • Rich Howard • Steve Jirik • Jim Johansen • Julie Kaltenecker Kate Kitchell • Steve Knick • Mike Kochert • Marjorie McHenry • Mike Pellant Dana Quinney • Barry Rose • Roger Rosentreter • Irene Saphra • Signe Sather-Blair Nancy Shaw • Karen Steenhof • John Sullivan • Marcia Wicklow-Howard • Geneva Wyett Additional funding and support were provided by: DuPont Vegetation Management American Cyanamid Company Idaho Army National Guard Sponsors Bureau of Land Management ~ Boise State University ~ Society for Ecological Restoration, Northwest Chapter ~ U.S. Geological Survey, Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Artwork by Eva Teseo, Bureau of Land Management, and Meggan Laxalt, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Contents WELCOME AND PLENARY PRESENTATION J. David Brunner Welcome and Introductory Remarks ...........................................................3 John Freemuth Science, Politics, and Ecosystems: Thoughts on Their Integration ........... 4 HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVES IN SAGEBRUSH STEPPE ECOSYSTEMS E. Durant McArthur Sagebrush Systematics and Distribution .....................................................9 Neil E. West Synecology and Disturbance Regimes of Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems ................................................................................................ 15 Alan R. Sands Sagebrush Steppe Wildlife: Historical and Current Perspectives ............ 27 Signe Sather-Blair Victoria Saab James A. Young Historical Sagebrush Ecosystems: Human Influences ............................. 36 CURRENT ISSUES IN SAGEBRUSH STEPPE ECOSYSTEMS Lee E. Eddleman Current Issues in the Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystem: Grazing, Paul S. Doescher Fire, and Other Disturbances..................................................................... 41 David A. Pyke Invasive Exotic Plants in Sagebrush Ecosystems of the Intermountain West .................................................................................... 43 Jayne Belnap Structure and Function of Biological Soil Crusts .......................................55 RESTORATION OF SAGEBRUSH STEPPE ECOSYSTEM RESOURCE VALUES Steven Dewey Abstract: Noxious Weed Control............................................................... 65 Nancy L. Shaw Controlling Annual Grasses with OUST® Herbicide.................................. 66 Stephen B. Monsen Susan E. Meyer Exploring the Potential for Biocontrol of Cheatgrass with the David L. Nelson Head Smut Pathogen................................................................................. 70 Suzette Clement Alisa Paulsen T. A. Jones Use of Native Plants for Sagebrush Steppe Restoration .......................... 73 Claire Gabriel Dunne How to Get the Native Seed You Want ......................................................78 Alma H. Winward Abstract: Management of Sagebrush Steppe Vegetation ........................ 80 Stephen B. Monsen Establishment of Big Sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) in Semiarid Environments ..............................................................................81 i SNAKE RIVER BIRDS OF PREY NATIONAL CONSERVATION AREA (NCA) SESSION John Sullivan Introduction to the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area (NCA)................................................................................................. 89 Dana Quinney Then and Now: Changes in Vegetation and Land Use Practices in Southwestern Idaho Sagebrush Lands, with Emphasis on Sagebrush and Former Sagebrush Lands of the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area North of the Snake River .............................. 91 Steven Knick Effects of Disturbance on Shrub Steppe Habitats and Raptor Prey in John T. Rotenberry the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area, Idaho ........... 98 Beatrice Van Horne Karen Steenhof Effects of Wildfires and Military Training on Raptors ............................... 100 Michael N. Kochert Leslie B. Carpenter Robert N. Lehman John M. Marzluff Bill Casey Abstract: Wildfire Suppression in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area .....................................................................102 Mike Pellant Fuels Management in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area ...................................................................................103 Steven Jirik Rehabilitation Efforts, History, and Costs in the Snake River Birds of Prey National Conservation Area ........................................................108 POSTER PRESENTATIONS: ABSTRACTS Gary O. Grimm Interactive Multimedia Computer Presentations for Land Katy Flanagan Management Agencies ............................................................................ 113 Richy Harrod Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project: Fay Shon Regional Implementation Support Team.................................................. 113 Al Horton Paul Robin Jones Restoration of the Moss Component of Microbiotic Crust to the Marcia Wicklow-Howard Western Snake River Plain, Idaho ........................................................... 114 T.A. Jones Know your Squirreltail Taxa ..................................................................... 114 D.C. Nielson Leah Juarros Monitoring the Rehabilitation Treatments for the Eighth Street Fire: Mike Pellant A Coordinated Effort ................................................................................. 114 Frederick Pierson Lynn Wessman Julienne H. Kaltenecker Biological Soil Crusts: Natural Barriers to Bromus tectorum L. Marcia Wicklow-Howard Establishment in the Northern Great Basin, USA .................................... 115 Kelly Larsen Mike Pellant Ed Kleiner Case Studies in Arid Land Restoration .................................................... 115 ii Michael Mancuso Assessing and Monitoring Habitat Integrity of Lepidium Robert Moseley papilliferum (Slick-spot Peppergrass) in the Sagebrush Steppe Christopher Murphy of Southwestern Idaho ............................................................................. 115 Kelly L. Memmott Seasonal Nutrient Dynamics of Five Forage Shrubs and One Stephen B. Monsen Perennial Grass in a Cold Desert Ecosystem ......................................... 116 Stephen B. Monsen Development of Site-adapted Ecotypes of Bluebunch Wheatgrass, Sandberg Bluegrass, and Thurber Needlegrass for Restoration of Sagebrush Steppe Communities on the Snake River Plain ................ 116 Mike Pellant Use of OUST® Herbicide to Control Cheatgrass in the Northern Steven Jirik Great Basin .............................................................................................. 117 Julienne H. Kaltenecker Victoria Saab Cheatgrass Expansion and Biodiversity Loss on the Snake Nancy L. Shaw River Plain, Southern Idaho ..................................................................... 117 Stephen B. Monsen Terry Rich Nancy L. Shaw Techniques for Reestablishment of Cool-Season Grasses ..................... 118 Stephen B. Monsen Joseph G. Vollmer PLATEAU®: A New Product for Leafy Spurge (Euphorbia Jennifer L. Vollmer esula) Control ........................................................................................... 118 Terence P. Yorks Precipitation-Plant Community Production Covariation in Yong-Hong Li Relation to Species Richness Within Sagebrush Steppe of Neil E. West Southern Idaho ........................................................................................ 118 SAGEBRUSH STEPPE ECOSYSTEMS SYMPOSIUM FIELD TOUR SUMMARY ................................................. 123 SNAKE RIVER BIRDS OF PREY NCA HABITAT RESTORATION WORKSHOP FIELD TOUR SUMMARY...... 127 SNAKE RIVER BIRDS OF PREY NCA HABITAT RESTORATION WORKSHOP SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS ................................................................................................................................................. 133 SNAKE RIVER BIRDS OF PREY NCA HABITAT RESTORATION WORKSHOP PARTICIPANTS ...................... 143 iii Welcome and Plenary Presentation Sagebrush Steppe Ecosystems Symposium, Boise State University, Boise, Idaho – June 21-23, 1999 INTRODUCTORY REMARKS J. David Brunner Welcome! For the next two days we will discuss scientists, managers, and land users will meet for 2 1/2 issues surrounding the ecology, uses, and management days to begin developing a strategy to reduce the loss of of sagebrush steppe ecosystems in the western United shrub habitat and restore areas now dominated by cheat- States, with emphasis on the Great Basin Desert and grass, an exotic, highly flammable annual grass.