Rangeland conservation and management

OSU Extension provides research-based information to help land managers maintain healthy rangelands for livestock, wildlife and native plants. We offer tools and guidance on grazing practices, vegetation management and sustainable land use to support productive and resilient landscapes.

Fostering stewardship: A how-to guide for trainers

This curriculum package helps natural-resource professionals train landowners on best practices in resource management. Topics include forests, fire, streams, wildlife, soil, pastures, water systems and economics — all issues facing landowners in many parts of the West.

View the curriculum

Photo Credit: Bob - Adobe Stock (Cropped from original)

Latest content

Threat-based ecostate mapping: Using big data to guide management across sagebrush landscapes

Threat-based ecostate maps pull together satellite and field data to show vegetation conditions across the landscape. Land managers can use these maps to show where landscapes are functioning and where they are under threat.

Megan Creutzburg, Dylan O'Leary, Vanessa Schroeder, Anya Tyson, Jackie Cupples, Lee Davis | Oct 2025 | OSU Extension Catalog

Episode 68: Assisted Migration (in English)

To flow or not to flow? Jake Barker talks Assisted Migration with Jess Shamek.

Carrie Cantrell, Jake Barker, Jess Shamek | Sep 2025 | Podcast episode

Episode 58: Reconstructing Fire Histories (in English)

Micah Schmidt, North East Regional Fire Specialist.

Jacob Putney, Micah Schmidt | Feb 2025 | Podcast episode

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Videos

Where and when to photo monitor rangeland health? (in English)

It is important for you to select an appropriate photo monitoring location and timeframe that will provide you information that will be useful for evaluating your management objectives. In this video, you will learn where to ...

Sergio Arispe, Dustin Johnson | Jan 2025 | Video

Sage Grouse Field Research (in English)

In the fall of 2017, a reporter and videographer joined a wildlife biologists from Oregon State University and the Bureau of Land Management as they spent an evening in Lake County, Oregon, capturing and tagging sage-grouse for a research project.

Andrew Olsen | Jun 2024 | Video

Virtual Fencing (in English)

Researchers at Eastern Oregon Agricultural Research Center have been studying virtual fencing and have a collection of videos that are helpful to those wanting to learn more about this topic.

Jul 2024 | Online resource

Digital mapping

Land Survey and Mapping: An Introduction for Woodland Owners

Discusses types of plane surveys, including property surveys and cadastral surveys. Briefly sketches the history of the rectangular survey system in the United States and describes how the rectangular system works. ...

Norma Kline, Alicia Christiansen | Apr 2021 | OSU Extension Catalog

Digital mapping tools: Part 1, the basics

Get more out of your smartphone! Free or low-cost digital mapping tools can help you track your path, measure a boundary, calculate area and pinpoint problem areas so you can find them again. You can even map vegetation via satellite imagery.

Norma Kline, Alicia Christiansen | Mar 2021 | OSU Extension Catalog

Digital mapping tools: Part 2, printing a topographic map

For a big-picture view of the landscape, sometimes nothing beats the power of a paper map. Save yourself a trip to the store and print out just the map you need from any number of free websites.

Norma Kline, Alicia Christiansen | Apr 2024 | OSU Extension Catalog

Reduce wildfire risk and improve fire response: Coordinating planning, funding and implementation

Wildfire risk reduction typically must occur at a scale beyond individual parcels. Learn how one rangeland fire protection association assembled a coalition to create a fire prevention and management plan.

Learn more on rangeland fire protection

Photo Credit: jryanc10 - Adobe Stock (Cropped from original)

Threat management resources

Grazing Management for Rangeland Health: A Threat-based Land Management Approach

The sagebrush ecosystem is shrinking at an alarming rate. Threat-based land management provides a framework for improving grazing and management and adjusting as conditions change. Monitoring and the Grazing Response ...

Chris Schachtschneider, Vanessa Schroeder, Dustin Johnson | Oct 2022 | OSU Extension Catalog

Land Management Planning Addresses Ecological Threats (in English)

Wildfire and Invasive annual grasses and encroaching juniper can threaten the ecosystem and viability of rangeland-based agricultural operations. OSU Extension created an innovative, online land management planning course to equip ...

Sergio Arispe | Jan 2022 | Video

Threat-based Management for Creeks, Streams and Rivers

This guide is a decision-support tool for understanding how riparian areas such as creeks, rivers and streams should function in sagebrush ecosystems. Land managers can determine whether a riparian area is functioning properly and how to restore or maintain proper function.

Dirk Renner, Jackie Cupples, Jeremy Austin, Tammy Barnes, Chad Boyd, Dustin Johnson, Vanessa Schroeder, Anya Tyson | Dec 2023 | OSU Extension Catalog

Latest news

OSU builds partnerships to conserve the sagebrush ecosystem

This work is critical for the future of Oregon’s rangelands, particularly in Eastern Oregon, where sagebrush ecosystems support both wildlife and the ranching economy.

Vanessa Schroeder, Dustin Johnson | May 2025 | Impact story

Extension central to strategic action to combat invasive annual grasses in Wallowa County

Through strategic planning, community collaboration and targeted resource use, the Wallowa County Invasive Annual Grasses Partnership is creating a lasting impact.

Peter Schreder | Apr 2025 | Impact story

Workshops boosts weed control efforts in Eastern Oregon

Attendees helped strengthen the agriculture and natural resources workforce in northeast Oregon, filling critical gaps in weed management capacity.

Will Price | Mar 2025 | Impact story

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Field crops

Pasture and forages

Fire

Forest health and management

Integrated pest management

Water management and conservation

Meet Our Experts

Sergio Arispe

Associate Professor, Livestock and Rangeland

Dustin Johnson

Assistant Professor of Practice

Jacob Powell

Crops & Livestock, Associate Professor of Practice

Will Price

Assistant Professor of Practice

My Extension and research programs focus on rangeland based livestock production in Baker and Union Counties.

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How to manage tansy ragwort?

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