2007 USU Restoring the West Conference to Focus on Sagelands

Registration is in progress for the 2007 Restoring the West Conference slated for Sept. 18-20 at Utah State University. Discounts are offered for participants registering by Sept. 1.

Sagebrush steppe restoration is the focus for this year’s gathering, which features talks, workshops and a poster session led by scientists from throughout the western United States. The conference also includes a day-long field trip to research sites throughout Logan Canyon and Bear Lake.

 

Travelers in the American West motoring past endless stretches of shrub-studded desert and the occasional last chance Texaco might find the notion that sagebrush rangelands are disappearing somewhat silly, says Mark Brunson, professor in USU’s Department of Environment and Society and a scheduled conference speaker. “In fact, scientists estimate the survival of only half the sagebrush steppe land that existed at the time of European-American settlement. And the rate of disappearance is increasing.”

 

Sagebrush steppe’s importance for wildlife habitat, forage for livestock grazing and watershed values is immeasurable, say USU scientists, yet its decline is impairing its value. The USU conference will explore why the ecosystem is in decline, along with what can and what is being done to stem its demise.

 

Cost to attend the three-day conference is $80 if registration is received by Sept. 1 and $100 after that date. Cost for students is $30 if registration is received by Sept. 1 and $40 after that date.

 

The conference’s optional Restoration Monitoring Workshop, scheduled for Sept. 20, is sold out.

 

For registration information, visit the conference Web site or call USU Registration Services at 1-800-538-2663 or 435-797-0423.

 

The conference is organized and sponsored by USU’s Department of Wildland Resources, College of Natural Resources, USU Extension Forestry, and the USGS Utah Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit. Sponsors also include USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, Utah Agricultural Experiment Station, USU's Ecology Center, USDA ARS Forage and Range Research Lab, USDA Forest Service State and Private Forestry, and USDA Forest Service Rocky Mountain Research Station.

 

 

 

Contact: Michael Kuhns [mike.kuhns@usu.edu], 435-797-4056