Part 1: Laying the Groundwork for Range Monitoring

Information That May Be Helpful When Starting A Monitoring Program

Whether you choose to conduct a minimum, recommended, or comprehensive level of monitoring, the more information you have while designing your program, the better. Available historical information may be a great resource describing how the land looked and was cared for by past stewards. Current data available from, for example, governmental agencies, local ranchers, and those working on your ranch, can be crucial to developing a monitoring program and to understanding the data you collect through monitoring.

Let’s look at some specific examples of information you will want to assemble before you start planning your monitoring program.