Bureau Of Land Management Research Articles

Using public litigation records to identify priority science needs for managing public lands

Relevant science is essential for effective natural resource decision making, including on public lands managed by the United States Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureau of Land Management (BLM), that cover 1/10th of the United States. Most of the BLM’s management decisions require analyses under the National Environmental Policy Act, and the use of science in these decisions is often challenged. Using coproduction, we assembled an interagency team of scientists and resource managers to develop a method for using public litigation to identify priority science needs for the BLM. We searched publicly available case documents finalized from 2015–2019 in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah, and New Mexico within federal courts and the DOI Office of Hearings and Appeals, and identified 108 case documents that involved challenges to the BLM’s use of science. We retained 48 case documents that contained at least one challenge about the BLM’s use of science for a specific resource. We categorized all challenges in each case document according to the proposed action, affected resource, type of science challenged (data about resources, science relevant to potential impacts, methods for analyzing potential impacts, and mitigation actions), and specific nature of the challenge (e.g., challenging direct effects analysis). We identified priority science needs based on the frequency of challenges, the number of states where similar challenges occurred, whether the BLM lost the challenge, and whether the case was remanded. Top needs related to oil and gas development actions and included science about effects on air quality and climate, water, and socioeconomics; data for air quality and climate; and methods for analyzing potential impacts to cultural resources and air quality and climate. The BLM can use this information to prioritize actions (e.g., funding new research or science syntheses) to strengthen its science foundation for decision-making.

A regionally varying habitat model to inform management for greater sage-grouse persistence across their range

Identifying habitat needs for species with large distributions is challenging because species-habitat associations may vary across scales and regions (spatial nonstationarity). Furthermore, management efforts often cross jurisdictional boundaries, complicating the development of cohesive conservation strategies among management entities. The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a rapidly declining species that spans 11 U.S. states and responds to habitat conditions across a wide range of spatial scales and regions. Allowing for regional variance in species-habitat associations and suitability predictions could systematically identify important habitats at levels relevant to management. We collaboratively developed a model with Bureau of Land Management (BLM) biologists that: (1) evaluated the scale of effect for different environmental covariates; (2) accounted for regional differences in population-level responses; and (3) predicted probabilities of persistence across the U.S. occupied range. We modeled range-wide lek persistence data (6615 communal breeding sites classified as active or inactive) as a function of environmental covariates. Environmental covariates included sagebrush cover, pinyon-juniper cover, topography, precipitation, point and line disturbance densities, and landscape configuration metrics. Our model treated habitat assessment areas – regionally delineated by BLM biologists – as random intercepts and slopes that allowed for geographic variation in species-habitat associations and predicted probabilities of lek persistence. Our final model indicated support for 12 environmental covariates predicting lek persistence at scales extending between 1- to 15-km radii from lek centers, and a covariate measuring distance to the occupied range boundary. Five of these covariates showed significant regionally varying responses: sagebrush clumpiness (a measure of habitat aggregation), pinyon-juniper cover, point disturbance of anthropogenic features such as energy infrastructure and communication towers, elevation, and a topographic index associated with mesic habitats. This spatial nonstationarity indicates unitary range-wide recommendations, or rules-of-thumb with respect to their effects on lek persistence, may be problematic for these environmental conditions. For covariates that did not include random slopes, and which were potentially amenable to management actions, we found that leks were predicted to become extirpated when sagebrush cover fell below 9.6 % (summarized at the 3.2-km radius extent), and the proportion of classified sagebrush habitat fell below 0.7 (1-km). We produced a continuous predictive probability surface of lek persistence which we binned based on model sensitivity thresholds to produce habitat quality categories. The highest quality habitat (capturing 50 % of active leks) covered 25.5 % of the occupied range, while the combined lowest through highest quality habitats (capturing 95 % of active leks) covered 65.0 %. Accommodating regional environmental differences in models that are relevant to habitat management planning will help ensure their applicability to targeted goals. Continuous collaboration between modelers and land managers early in the modeling process increases the likelihood of this outcome.

Long-Term Trends in Vegetation on Bureau of Land Management Rangelands in the Western United States

The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages nearly 1 million km2 of public lands that support recreation, livestock production, and wildlife habitat. Monitoring the condition of vegetation on these lands is crucial for sound management but has historically been difficult to do at scale. Here we used newly developed remote-sensing tools to conduct an unprecedented assessment of trends in vegetation cover and production for all BLM rangelands from 1991 to 2020. We found widespread increases in cover and production of annual grasses and forbs, declines in herbaceous perennial cover, and expansion of trees. Cover and production of annual plants now exceed that of perennials on > 21 million ha of BLM rangeland, marking a fundamental shift in the ecology of these lands. This trend was most dramatic in the Western Cold Desert of Nevada and parts of surrounding states where aboveground production of annuals has more than tripled. Trends in annuals were negatively correlated with trends in bare ground but not with trends in perennials, suggesting that annuals are filling in bare ground rather than displacing perennials. Tree cover increased in half of ecoregions affecting some 44 million ha and underscoring the threat of woodland expansion for western rangelands. A multiscale variance partitioning analysis found that trends often varied the most at the finest spatial scale. This result reinforces the need to combine plot-level field data with moderate-resolution remote sensing to accurately quantify vegetation changes in heterogeneous rangelands. The long-term changes in vegetation on public rangelands argue for a more hands-on approach to management, emphasizing preventative treatment and restoration to preserve rangeland habitat and functioning. Our work shows the power of new remote-sensing tools for monitoring public rangelands and developing effective strategies for adaptive management and conservation.

Oregonscape

Oregonscape Matthew Cowan CAMP WYETH, pictured here in 1942, was a civilian public service camp during World War II where conscientious objectors — those who opposed participating in the military due to religious or philosophical beliefs — fulfilled their military service. Founded on November 27, 1941, the camp was also known as Camp #21. Located 14 miles west of the Columbia River Gorge, projects at Camp Wyeth were overseen by the U.S. Forest service and included a variety of maintenance, repair, and cleanup duties in and around the Gorge. Day-to-day work included constructing roads and trails, maintaining camp grounds, fire fighting, and building lookout towers. According to an article published in the Oregonian on March 1, 1942, the camp housed men from thirty different religious denominations, thirty-three occupations, and eight states. One of the most well-known residents to work at the camp was Lew Ayres, an actor known for his role in the film All Quiet in on the Western Front and his marriage to Ginger Rogers. In 1951, Daniel Goldy, regional administrator of the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, recommended the establishment of eighteen camps for conscientious in Oregon. He went on to suggest that the Northwest region, including Washington and Idaho, could profitably support twenty-four camps. The cost was estimated at $35,000 for construction of each camp, with operating costs of $30,000 per year. While this recommendation was made to Congress, these camps never materialized in the post-war era. You can read more about Camp Wyeth in Jeffrey Kovac’s “Civilian Public Service Camp #21” entry in The Oregon Encyclopedia (www.oregonencycloopedia.org). Click for larger view View full resolution THIS IMAGE, published in the Oregonian on March 1, 1942, captures a view of Camp Wyeth, which had formerly housed Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) members. At the time the photograph was taken, the camp housed 113 pacifists of military age who were assigned to the camp by draft boards during World War II. The circle on the image is a crop mark made by Oregonian editorial staff in preparation for publication. OHS Research Library, OrHi 71456 [End Page 416] Matthew Cowan OHS Moving Images and Photography Archivist Copyright © 2022 Oregon Historical Society

Mature and old-growth forests contribute to large-scale conservation targets in the conterminous United States

Mature and old-growth forests (MOG) of the conterminous United States collectively support exceptional levels of biodiversity but have declined substantially from logging and development. National-scale proposals to protect 30 and 50% of all lands and waters are useful in assessing MOG conservation targets given the precarious status of these forests. We present the first coast to coast spatially explicit MOG assessment based on three structural development measures—canopy height, canopy cover, and above-ground living biomass to assess relative maturity. MOG were displayed by major forest types (n = 22), landownerships (federal, state, private, and tribal), and Gap Analysis Project (GAP) management status overlaid on the NatureServe’s Red-listed Ecosystems and species, above-ground living biomass, and drinking water source areas. MOG total ∼67.2 M ha (35.9%) of all forest structural classes and were scattered across 8 regions with most in western regions. All federal lands combined represented the greatest (35%) concentrations of MOG, ∼92% of which is on national forest lands with ∼9% on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and ∼3% on national park lands (totals do not sum to 100% due to minor mapping errors in the datasets). MOG on national forest lands supported the highest concentration of conservation values. However, national forests and BLM lands did not meet lower bound (30%) targets with only ∼24% of MOG in GAP1,2 (5.9 M ha) protection status. The vast majority (76%, 20.8 M ha) of MOG on federal lands that store 10.64 Gt CO2 (e) are vulnerable to logging (GAP3). If federal MOG are logged over a decade, and half their carbon stock emitted, there would be an estimated 0.5 ppm increase in atmospheric CO2 by 2030, which is equivalent to ∼9% of United States total annual emissions. We recommend upper bound (100%) protection of federal MOG, including elevating the conservation status of Inventoried Roadless Areas. This would avoid substantial CO2 emissions while allowing ongoing carbon sequestration to act as natural climate solutions to aid compliance with the Paris Climate Agreement and presidential executive orders on MOG and 30% of all lands and waters in protection by 2030. On non-federal lands, which have fewer MOG, regulatory improvements and conservation incentives are needed.

Comments: Pore Space Gains Value as CCS Picks Up Traction

A North Dakota Supreme Court decision last month changed the rules of leasing pore space from landowners and their rights to compensation for its use by oil and gas operators. This decision and the US Inflation Reduction Act recently passed by the US Congress, which significantly increases tax incentives for operators’ carbon capture and storage (CSS) projects, is likely to spur other states to clarify ownership, associated rights, and compensation for pore space. The bottom line: The North Dakota court struck down key parts of a Senate bill that authorized oil and gas operators to use pore space without landowner compensation and consent. The Northwest Landowners Association had challenged the state law as amounting to the unconstitutional taking of private property rights. The impetus for the recent litigation arose when, in 2019, the North Dakota legislature enacted Senate Bill (SB) 2344, which restricted surface owners, long recognized as the owners of pore space, from requiring consent or seeking compensation for its use in operations for enhanced oil recovery (including operations involving carbon dioxide) or any other operation authorized by the North Dakota Industrial Commission. North Dakota surface owners historically were entitled to compensation for an operator’s use of pore space for saltwater disposal. Before the enactment of SB 2344, those owners could sue an operator for trespass for use of the surface estate that was not “reasonably necessary” for development. The supreme court’s decision said portions of the bill permitted operators to “physically invade a landowner’s property by injecting substances into the landowner’s pore space” and concluded that “surface owners have a right to compensation for the use of their pore space for disposal and storage operations.” The court said the provision of SB 2344 allowing the use of carbon dioxide for enhanced recovery of oil and gas was not an unconstitutional taking. The decision highlights the need for consideration of surface owners prior to the use of pore space. Haynes Boone, a US-based law firm with offices around the world, wrote in an alert o 10 August, “Producers seeking to use pore space may consider contractual agreements with surface owners, such as surface use agreements, before using pore space to avoid claims, including those in tort that SB 2344 formerly barred. And even when such agreements are not necessary because of other contractual or administrative rights, producers may still want to consider compensation for pore space under the Oil and Gas Production Damage Compensation Act.” North Dakota is not alone in its attempts to add clarity to laws pertaining to pore space. In May, the Global CCS Institute emphasized the uncertainty in US pore space rights in a brief. “The issue of pore space ownership is largely settled for CCS in many other jurisdictions around the world. However, as the US law is not sufficiently settled, each part should consult local counsel to draft leases and other carbon dioxide storage-related documents.” The brevity of the report is telling. Of the 18 states listed, pore space ownership is noted for two as “unsettled,” five “undecided,” and five “appears to be.” Only five are listed as “surface owner.” Texas, with its onshore storage capacity for carbon dioxide estimated between 661 million and 2.4 billion tons by the US Department of Energy, has not settled the issue of who owns the rights to lease subsurface pore space for the storage of carbon when the mineral and surface rights are held by separate interests. More-specific regulations are also being developed for federal lands. On 8 June, the US Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued formal guidance, effective immediately, describing its policy for authorizing use of federal public lands for site characterization, injection, and geologic sequestration of carbon dioxide for CCS. It included the authorization of rights-of-way at appropriately classified injection well locations in connection with sequestration projects. It also included authorization of the use of BLM-managed pore space when surface facilities, including injection wells, are on private or state-owned lands or lands managed by another federal agency. The guidance required authorizations for the use of federal pore space during and after injection operations. Pore space storage could become an even bigger player in the coming years as more CCS projects are developed. Worldwide, according to the Global CCS Institute, 24 facilities capturing and injecting carbon dioxide were operational in 2020, half of those located in the US. Will the boost in tax credits act as an incentive to ramp up the US tally? If so, selling reservoirs’ empty pore space may become a new, big business.

Mormonicity

Mormonicity

Concise or comprehensive? Predictors of impact assessment choices for electric transmission line projects.

Environmental impact assessment (EIA) procedures required in the United States and many other countries are often highlighted as a major hindrance to timely and efficient deployment of critical infrastructure projects. Under the U.S. National Environmental Policy Act, a more extensive environmental impact statement (EIS) review can take several more years and cost much more than a succinct environmental assessment (EA). This not only affects the project in question, but also likely informs how-or whether-additional projects are pursued. Thus, understanding key predictors of the EA versus EIS choice sheds light on supply-side considerations affecting infrastructure deficits. Using the case of NEPA reviews conducted for 244 transmission line projects between 2005 and 2018 by two U.S. federal agencies in the western United States, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and Department of Energy (DOE), this addresses the following question: What project features most predict whether EA or an EIS is used to assess a transmission line project? Drawing upon NEPA assessment guidance and agency NEPA records, we use a regression classification tree to analyze how protocols and project attributes relate to assessment choice. The result is essentially a null finding: transmission line length is by far the most important predictor of whether a project receives an extensive EIS or a shorter EA, with little predictive value provided by other attributes. While absolute project size undoubtedly influences impacts, the lack of further differentiation in what predicts use of EISs versus EAs suggests assessment does not simply respond to project details but also shapes proposal and design choices beforehand.

An Inductive Approach to Developing Ecological Site Concepts with Existing Monitoring Data

Ecological sites comprise a land classification system that represents potential vegetation states and their management needs for different soils and climates. In the Rio Grande del Norte National Monument (RGdNNM) in northern New Mexico, uncertainty about the patterns and drivers of vegetation states impedes sustainable land management. Similar challenges are ubiquitous across terrestrial ecosystems and in particular landscapes with high spatial variability in soils and climate. Lack of suitable data has been a barrier to large-scale ecological site development based on quantitative observations. We used data from existing federal monitoring programs alongside spatial, environmental, and land use data to test for the role of climate, geomorphology, soils, and land use history on vegetation communities in RGdNNM. The monitoring dataset was collected with standardized monitoring methods implemented by the Bureau of Land Management's Assessment, Inventory, and Monitoring program and the Natural Resources Conservation Service's Landscape Monitoring Framework program. Eleven ecological site concepts and paired vegetation communities were identified using multivariate fuzzy clustering and classification tree analysis to determine the influence of abiotic variables on vegetation communities. The ecological site and vegetation community concepts developed for RGdNNM demonstrate how existing monitoring data can be used to interpret the structural and functional characteristics of landscapes. A workflow for applying monitoring data to landscape classification is presented to support the broader framework for ecological site development.

Review: The Archaeology of Burning Man: The Rise and Fall of Black Rock City, by Carolyn L. White

How do you conduct archaeological research on the temporary but cyclically recurring organism that is Black Rock City? Carolyn White collected data using precise, detailed archaeological methods at Burning Man as a participant-observer from 2008 to 2016. She was afforded excellent behind-the-scenes access through stakeholders in the Burning Man organization, the Bureau of Land Management, and of course, Burners attending the annual event. In White’s resulting book, The Archaeology of Burning Man, she not only explicates her findings, but she also relates her work to an array of archaeological theories and makes a case for the legitimacy of an “archaeology of the present” on active sites (22).With 75 figures and 6 tables, White provides a colorful and accurate picture of the culture, principles, and history of Burning Man. As a Burner myself, I appreciated her occasional whimsical hints at Burners’ attitudes, styles, and playfulness. In general, however, her book takes a scholarly tone that is particularly heavy in the first two chapters where she provides a literature review and lengthy discussion of her methods and approaches inspired by seminal archaeologists—certainly important context for scholars in her field, though quite technical for the layperson. As a specialist of contemporary archaeology, White is highly influenced by the theories of James Deetz and Lewis Binford, whom she credits with inspiring her project, though she modifies and adapts their practices to suit this unique site.One of White’s themes is the categorization of spaces as public, intermediary, or private, according to Henri Lefebvre’s tripartite scheme, which provides a fascinating framework for her discussions of the layouts of Black Rock City as a whole, as well as representative theme camps and villages. In describing a particular camp’s layout, White frequently applies the schema using abbreviations to delineate the use of space. For example, Pr/pr (private/private) to describe a sleeping area that is completely removed from the public eye (148); Pr/pu (private/public) to explain the use of a “dress-up tent” for costuming that is available only to the inhabitants of that camp (private) but is open to all of those inhabitants (public) (153); or Pr/i (private/intermediary) to designate a back area that holds private property (private) in a place to store items (intermediary) (143). This categorization of spaces is, in my opinion, the most intriguing aspect of her discussions of particular sites.Georges Bataille’s concepts of immoderate consumption, the dissipation of the “accursed share,” and the effervescence of life, as applied by White, contribute apt themes for the extravagance of Burning Man—a place where participants go to extremes to expend excess energy on building and burning down structures, constructing art forms, costuming, gifting, and simply experiencing everything to the fullest. Performative squandering of wealth at Burning Man is key to its ethos. At the same time, this aspect of the event can also spark a controversial discussion about elitism and privilege, an issue that White does not delve into but only hints at. The rhizome and meshwork metaphors that she employs also correspond well with her portrayal of Burning Man as a mutable organism. The comprehensive index and bibliography are useful to locate the numerous references to scholars.Ultimately, White argues that studying Black Rock City as an active site, with dwellers engaging in daily activities, affords an opportunity to understand place as a concept, “a place that is unlike any other city but is also just the same” (3). With up to 75,000 inhabitants who live together for one week, Black Rock City offers the rare chance to study, over the years, the constancies and changes of an intentionally ephemeral site, a city that rises and falls at an accelerated pace.

Rarefied Air: Drilling for Helium in North America

Helium is one of the most abundant in advanced medical technologies such as MRIs, and in cryogenics, aerospace applications, and microchip manufacturing. It is also used to fill party balloons. It’s essential, expensive, and supplies are running low. Helium is about 100 million times more abundant in one place—but that place is on the moon. While trace amounts can even be found in the very air we breathe, the gas is difficult to find in commercial quantities, and those quantities are usually found as a byproduct of natural gas discoveries. Historically, about 40% of the US supply of helium came from the Federal Helium Reserve, a US Bureau of Land Management (BLM)-operated storage reservoir, enrichment plant, and pipeline system near Amarillo, Texas. The reserve was set up in 1960 as a strategic repository so that BLM could supply crude helium to private helium refining companies, which in turn refined it and marketed it to consumers. In the mid-1990s, Congress passed a bill to sell off a large part of the reserve’s supply to help pay off the facility’s debt, and effectively set in motion the federal government’s exit from the helium business. In 2013, BLM said it would begin auctioning off an increased percentage of the reserve annually as part of the bill. Last year, BLM announced the closure of the reserve. At the time of the announcement, BLM Deputy Director for Policy and Programs William Perry Pendley said “now it is time for the US government to remove itself from the helium business and allow the private sector to further develop this industry to meet the supply needs of the United States, creating a sustainable economic model and jobs for Americans.” BLM held its final crude helium auction in 2019, with the price rising 135%, from $119/Mcf a year earlier to $280/Mcf. Market pricing for helium is difficult to know. It is not a traded commodity, and pricing is normally based on long-term, confidential contracts. It’s a niche market that suffers from a lack of detailed analysis due in large part to the availability of its closely held data. The helium industry shares many aspects of the oil and gas business. Commercial deposits are found via geological survey; then, once identified, drilling begins. Outside of the search and discovery, helium can also be a useful tool for those in the oil business. It can be used for leak detection and in specialized welding due to its inert properties and high heat transfer. Additionally, as the oil field moves more toward digitalization, storage of big data will need helium for the construction of storage drives and to keep server farms cool. Swapping Hydrocarbons for Helium As scientific developments advance, the need for helium increases—a notion not lost on Canada-based Avanti Energy. The company’s CEO Chris Bakker has more than 2 decades of experience in oil and gas, most recently working as a commercial negotiator with Encana/Ovintiv for major facilities and pipelines in the Montney gas play. Today, he and his team are looking for commercial helium deposits in southern Alberta and northern Montana.

Lentic Meadows and Riparian Functions Impaired After Horse and Cattle Grazing

ABSTRACTPerennially and intermittently available water in lentic, spring‐fed herbaceous meadows supports wetland plants that build and maintain absorbent soil organic matter, capture sediment, prevent erosion, and thereby sustain riparian ecosystems. Enhanced forage and available water attract a diversity of wildlife and grazing animals that can degrade riparian vegetation through prolonged overuse. We tested novel monitoring methods and adapted existing methods to obtain quantified vegetation data that have been consistently linked to riparian functionality and compared these data to ungulate species use. We quantified ungulate use with time‐lapse cameras at 10 Nevada spring‐fed herbaceous meadows where core greater sage‐grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) habitat, public land grazing allotments, and free‐roaming horse (Equus caballus) herd management areas (Bureau of Land Management) or territories (U.S. Department of Agriculture Forest Service) overlapped. Free‐roaming horses used most study sites over longer periods and grazed more intensely than cattle or domestic sheep. Native ungulate grazing intensity was comparatively negligible. Free‐roaming horses selected spring‐fed meadow sites on average 51 (±33 [SE]) times more than the surrounding rangelands, and cattle selected them 30 ± 23 times more. Within the wettest area of a site, study sites with longer duration of use and higher intensity of use had more soil alteration and bare ground. Riparian ecosystem degradation occurred where meadows had limited rest or recovery time from grazing during the growing season. At all sites we noted loss of riparian function, especially within the hydric areas with the highest potential to grow abundant cover of stabilizing wetland plant species. Transects for monitoring soil alteration and vegetation cover in this hydric location can provide a leading indicator of riparian recovery or degradation and help in adjusting free‐roaming horse population levels or livestock management strategies. © 2021 The Wildlife Society.

Identifying Policy-relevant Indicators for Assessing Landscape Vegetation Patterns to Inform Planning and Management on Multiple-use Public Lands

Understanding the structure and composition of landscapes can empower agencies to effectively manage public lands for multiple uses while sustaining land health. Many landscape metrics exist, but they are not often used in public land decision-making. Our objectives were to (1) develop and (2) apply a process for identifying a core set of indicators that public land managers can use to understand landscape-level resource patterns on and around public lands. We first developed a process for identifying indicators that are grounded in policy, feasible to quantify using existing data and resources, and useful for managers. We surveyed landscape monitoring efforts by other agencies, gathered science and agency input on monitoring goals, and quantified the prevalence of potential indicators in agency land health standards to identify five landscape indicators: amount, distribution, patch size, structural connectivity, and diversity of vegetation types. We then conducted pilot applications in four bureau of land management (BLM) field offices in Arizona, California, and Colorado to refine procedures for quantifying the indicators and assess the utility of the indicators for managers. Results highlighted the dominance of upland and the limited extent of riparian/wetland vegetation communities, moderate connectivity of priority vegetation patches, and lower diversity of native vegetation types on BLM compared to non-BLM lands. Agency staff can use the indicators to inform the development of quantitative resource management objectives in land use plans, evaluate progress in meeting those objectives, quantify potential impacts of proposed actions, and as a foundation for an all-lands approach to landscape-level management across public lands.

Outcome-Based Approaches for Managing Wildfire Risk: Institutional Interactions and Implementation Within the “Gray Zone”

In the United States, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages rangeland resources under dynamic conditions such as drought, annual grass invasion, and larger and more frequent wildfires. But federal policies governing rangelands are not structured to respond to annual variability or unexpected events. To integrate flexibility into public rangeland administration and potentially leverage fuels management treatments at the landscape scale, the BLM and livestock grazing permittees are exploring outcome-based rangeland management approaches to achieve desired ecological, social and economic conditions. This paper examines administrative policies and barriers to using outcome-based approaches to manage fire risk in Idaho through 70 semistructured interviews with permittees, BLM staff, and other agency and nongovernmental stakeholders in three Idaho BLM field areas. We analyzed how rules and norms in policy implementation contributed to perceptions of barriers within and among different field areas. Factors affecting perceptions of outcome-based rangeland management implementation included BLM staff tenure, permittee-agency relationships, beliefs about the efficacy of grazing to manage fire risk, and leadership and staff experience in navigating National Environmental Policy Act requirements or potential lawsuits. Differences in the informal institutions among field areas led to different interpretations of latitude found within formal institutions (“gray zones”) for implementation. This study highlights the importance of local context and the interactions between administrative policies and agency culture for implementing adaptive approaches to managing wildfire risk on public rangelands.

Using Fecal DNA and Closed‐Capture Models to Estimate Feral Horse Population Size

ABSTRACTAccurate population estimates provide the foundation for managing feral horses (Equus caballus ferus) across the western United States. Certain feral horse populations are protected by the Wild and Free‐Roaming Horses and Burros Act of 1971 and managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) or the United States Forest Service on designated herd management areas (HMAs) or wild horse territories, respectively. Horses are managed to achieve an appropriate management level (AML), which represents the number of horses determined by BLM to contribute to a thriving natural ecological balance and avoid deterioration of the range. To achieve AML for each HMA, BLM resource managers need accurate and precise population estimates. We tested the use of non‐invasive fecal samples in a genetic capture‐recapture framework to estimate population size in a closed horse population at the Little Book Cliffs HMA, Colorado, USA, with a known size of 153 individuals. We collected 1,957 samples over 3 independent sampling periods in 2014 and amplified them at 8 microsatellite loci. We applied mark‐recapture models to determine population size using 954 samples that amplified at all 8 loci. We subsampled and reanalyzed our dataset to simulate different data collection protocols and evaluated effects on accuracy and precision of estimates using N‐mixture modeling, full likelihood closed‐capture modeling, and capwire single‐occasion modeling that used data from all 3 sampling periods. Our model results were accurate and precise for analyses that used data from all 3 occasions; however, capwire single‐occasion modeling was not accurate when we analyzed each sampling period separately. For all subsampling analysis scenarios, reducing sample size decreased precision, whether by reducing number of field staff, field days, or geographic areas surveyed on each period. Reducing spatial coverage of the survey area did not result in accurate population estimates and only marginally lowered the number of samples that would need to be collected to maintain accuracy. Because laboratory analysis contributes the greatest expense for this method ($80 U.S./sample), reducing fecal sample size is advantageous. Our results demonstrate that non‐invasive sampling combined with good survey design and careful genetic and capture‐recapture analyses can provide an alternative method to estimate the number of feral horses in a closed population. This method may be especially appropriate in situations where aerial inventories are not practical or accurate because of low sighting conditions. But the higher costs associated with laboratory sample analyses may reduce the method's feasibility compared to helicopter surveys. © 2021 The Wildlife Society. This article has been contributed to by US Government employees and their work is in the public domain in the USA.

134 Estimating the capacity of horse owners to absorb the surplus of wild horses

In FY2019, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) adopted or sold 8,548 wild horses and burros, but the remaining population still exceeded the appropriate management level by over 61,000 animals. In early 2019, BLM's acting head indicated that a key step in controlling the overpopulation of wild horses on federal lands is increasing private adoptions. Assuming that current or former horse owners represent the most feasible outlet, this paper explored the capacity of this population to absorb the surplus. We pursued this objective by utilizing social media to distribute a nationwide online survey of current and former horse owners. First, we asked whether respondents had adopted (or considered adopting) a wild horse before, whether they might consider it in the future, or whether they would never consider it. We then inquired about reasons for and barriers to adopting. All respondents except those in the last group were asked to report their willingness-to-pay (WTP) for wild horses with different levels of handling and training using a stated preference approach called the payment card method. With 2,247 complete responses, 2,041 respondents (90.8%) reported having adopted, considered adopting, or would consider adopting a wild horse in the future. The most commonly identified reason for having adopted previously was to provide a wild horse with a better life (n = 311, 63.7%), while the primary barrier to adopting was having appropriate facilities (n = 558, 52.2%). Interval regression analysis was utilized to estimate WTP for wild horses with 3 different levels of training: entirely unhandled, trained with basic ground manners, and started under saddle. Across the 3 models, preliminary results suggest that WTP for wild horses is consistently influenced by whether the respondent has adopted previously (+), years of experience with horses (+), age (-), and income (+) ( P < 0.05). Moreover, training before adoption positively influences WTP. For the average respondent, our results suggest that respondents are willing to pay an average of $282.03 more for a horse that has received training for basic ground manners and $539.21 more for a horse that has been started under saddle as compared with a completely unhandled horse. Within our sample, results indicate an overall positive perception of the private adoption of wild horses; if the main barriers to adoption can be overcome (lack of appropriate facilities and time/expertise to safely train an undomesticated horse), our results suggest general feasibility of the BLM's plan to solve, or at least significantly alleviate, the overpopulation of wild horses through private placement.

This Land is Our Land: Protesting to Protect Places on the Margin

ABSTRACT In 2008 Tim DeChristopher illegally bid on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) parcels offered for energy exploration leases near National Parks in Utah. DeChristopher and his supporters founded Peaceful Uprising, a climate justice movement, in response to his actions. We analyze mediated news coverage and in situ rhetoric gathered via rhetorical fieldwork to examine the ways that Peaceful Uprising combined place-based rhetoric and place-as rhetoric tactics to protect these park-adjacent lands from oil and gas leases and to protect DeChristopher from being convicted for making false bids on the leases. This analysis offers a unique example of place-based protest that is focused on otherwise ignored BLM lands. Moreover, we focus on a place—Salt Lake City—that is not conventionally perceived as a bastion of activism and protest about climate change. Our analysis expands the place in protest framework to considerations of: 1) the convergence of the place-based and place-as rhetoric tactics, and 2) the potential of place in protest appeals to enact different futurities.

Automated Mapping of Historical Native American Land Allotments at the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation Using Geographic Information Systems

The General Allotment Act of 1887, also known as the Dawes Act, established the legal basis for the United States government to break up remaining tribally-owned reservation lands in the U.S. by allotting individual parcels to tribal members and selling the remaining “surplus.” This research explores the processes involved in mapping these historical allotments and describes a method to automatically generate spatial data of allotments. A custom geographic information systems (GIS) tool was created that takes tabular based allotment land descriptions and digital Public Land Survey (PLSS) databases to automatically generate spatial and attribute data of those land parcels. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North and South Dakota was used as the initial study area to test the mapping technique, which resulted in successfully auto-mapping over 99.1% of allotted lands on the reservation, including the smallest aliquot parcels. This GIS technique can be used to map any tribal lands or reservation with allotment data available, and currently it can be used to map over 120 individual reservations using publicly available data from the Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Why don't environmental bonds fully cover reclamation costs?

Governments often require that extractive industry firms post environmental bonds as financial assurance to cover eventual reclamation liabilities. Such bond requirements frequently do not fully cover the reclamation cost. We show that a revenue-maximizing government may reasonably require a bond amount smaller than the full reclamation cost. This is because large bonds may discourage the extractive activities, diminishing fiscal income from project rents that could more than offset the decreased reclamation liability falling on the government. The selected bonding rate largely depends on the regulator's estimation of the elasticity of exit in response to bonding. Western Australia's recent refund of mining reclamation bonds to strong balance sheet firms, the US Bureau of Land Management's (BLM) historical concern over exit of oil and gas operators on onshore federal lands in response to bonding requirements and willingness to accept for its own account reclamation risks associated with incomplete bonding, and Texas's requirement for full-cost onshore oil and gas reclamation bonding are shown to all be consistent with this calculus.

"Drawing a Line from their Institution": One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design

"Drawing a Line from their Institution":One Origin Story of Indigenous GIS Design Mark Palmer (bio) the land-grab universities (lgu) article and accompanying methodology mark a significant chapter in the forward movement of Indigenous mapping and geographic information systems (GIS). GIS is a combined database and mapping software that allows users to digitize, collect, store, manipulate, and analyze spatial phenomena. The High Country News LGU articles are timely as America reboots and acknowledges multiple injustices committed against peoples of color since the country's inception. Beyond the articles' factual evidence and social commentary, the technical aspects of the project's spatial database development and mapping are remarkably transparent and accessible. Historical geographic information systems, like the LGU project, are an amalgamation of humanities scholarship, science, and technicality that contributes significantly to the field of geographic information science (GIScience) by producing novel approaches to digitizing previously unavailable archival data for use in GIS. GIScience has a poor record regarding reproducible studies and lacks transparency regarding detailed methods of reproduction. One recent study noted that "the lack of reproducibility in scientific studies [including GIScience] stems from researchers facing challenges in understanding and re-creating others' results, a situation that is common in data-driven and algorithm-based research" (Nüst et al. 2018). Spatial databases and maps created by the LGU research team provide a stellar example of how to publish and work toward reproducibility and replication in historical GIS, adding to a lineage of previous Indigenous methodologies that are philosophically collective in approach. I will briefly comment on the LGU spatial database and mapping processes. LGU spatial databases and maps represent one of many cycles of accumulating geographic information on Indian Country and then producing scientific representations (Latour 1987). Unlike past cycles—such as European exploration, the Great Surveys of the West, public land surveys, and topographic mapping—the LGU project is anticolonial. However, I would argue that it is not correct to label the maps as a form of countermapping. LGU maps are more revealing, larger in scope, and more imaginative than countermaps. Dr. Robert Lee documented the data collection and spatial database [End Page 106] preprocesses in "Land-Grab Universities: Methodology and Sources" in High Country News. Lee (2020b) details the research team's efforts to combine and stitch together plat maps, land tenure records, land patents, documents produced by Congress, bulletins located at the National Archives, and Bureau of Land Management (BLM) General Land Office (GLO) data. Filtering through mounds of records state by state and deciphering nineteenth-century handwriting was not an easy task. According to Lee, the "data was extracted both programmatically from digitized material at the GLO and transcribed (about 10 percent of the parcels) by hand from various archival sources" for 79,461 parcels of land.1 Anyone who has worked with spatial databases will understand the sheer breadth of Lee's undertaking. Thankfully, much of the spatial information is kept by the BLM. The BLM's website contains a robust land database, the Public Land Survey data, that includes data about ownership, surveyors' notes, legal descriptions, and plat maps (among other products). However, for scholars wishing to create a spatial database supported by GIS, locational information is paramount. The database must have a geographic component. The archival sources provide no longitude and latitude coordinates for georeferencing land parcels. Instead, the BLM uses a township and range system to identify land parcels and reproduces them using the Cadastral National Spatial Database Infrastructure dataset (Lee 2020b). Intensive labor goes into the creation of a functioning and standardized GIS database. This is especially true when the end goal is to create robust networks for connecting academic research, teaching curriculum, licenses as creative commons, and publications (Lee 2020b). Lee needed a scholar experienced in cartographic design and knowledge of Indigenous issues to jumpstart the mapping process. Enter Dr. Margaret Pearce, a seasoned academic, cartographic designer, and artist currently living in New England. She noted that the project was challenging because initially the data were not quite ready to be incorporated into ArcGIS Pro software.2 One of the challenges of working with historical documents is getting the data to fit within the system. This is no...