. Assessing big sagebrush at multiple spatial scales : an example in southeast Oregon. Big sagebrush; Sagebrush; Sage grouse; Habitat (Ecology); Vegetation monitoring; Vegetation dynamics; Range ecology. Introduction Big sagebrush and associated understory herba- ceous species are relatively intact in some por- tions of their range on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), yet at the broad spatial scale across the entire range of big sagebrush, there has been a notable decline in their spatial extent. The Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP)
. Assessing big sagebrush at multiple spatial scales : an example in southeast Oregon. Big sagebrush; Sagebrush; Sage grouse; Habitat (Ecology); Vegetation monitoring; Vegetation dynamics; Range ecology. Introduction Big sagebrush and associated understory herba- ceous species are relatively intact in some por- tions of their range on public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), yet at the broad spatial scale across the entire range of big sagebrush, there has been a notable decline in their spatial extent. The Interior Columbia Basin Ecosystem Management Project (ICBEMP) found that the spatial extent of big sagebrush had declined substantially from the mid-1800s to the 1990s within the Columbia Basin and north- west portion of the Great Basin. The decline is attributable primarily to the conversion of areas with sagebrush to agricultural lands and the transition to woodlands and forests (Hann et al. 1997). At a finer spatial scale, in the Great Basin portion of the ICBEMP in southeast Oregon, the decline in big sagebrush is attributable primarily to wildfires, seedings of introduced perennial grasses, and brush control treatments. Sagebrush-obligate species such as sage-grouse are being adversely affected by the decline in acreage of sagebrush, by fragmentation in some areas of existing sagebrush, and by the decline in structural complexity (increasing homogeneity of structure) of existing sagebrush. As a result of these and other factors, seven petitions (as of early December 2003; K. Kritz pers. comm. 2003) have been submitted to the Fish and Wildlife Service to include the sage-grouse on the Federal endangered species list. The BLM manages more acreage with big sage- brush than any other agency (Knick et al. 2003) and is increasingly considered the foremost land management agency in regard to conservation and restoration of big sagebrush communities. The BLM faces a challenge in assessing sagebrush habitat because the risk factors for s
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