Bryce W. Rickel

Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish (Volume 2) Bryce W. Rickel

This report, ?Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwestern United States: Wildlife and Fish,? is volume 2 of a two-volume ecological assessment of grassland ecosystems in the Southwestern United States, and it is part of a series of planned publications addressing major ecosystems of the Southwest. Volume 1, An Assessment of Grassland Ecosystem Conditions in the Southwest (Finch, editor, 2004), focused on the ecology, types, conditions, and management practices of Southwestern grasslands. The second volume (herein) describes wildlife and fish species, their habitat requirements, and species-specific management concerns, in Southwestern grasslands. The first Southwestern ecological assessment, General Technical Report RM-GTR-295, emphasized forested ecosystems and was titled, An Assessment of Forest Ecosystem Health in the Southwest (by Dahms and Geils, editors, 1997). Given the complexities of grassland ecology and the increasing number of challenges facing grassland managers, the USDA Forest Service Southwestern Region, in partnership with the agency?s Rocky Mountain Research Station, focused on grasslands in its second assessment. The assessment is regional in scale and pertains primarily to lands administered by the Southwestern Region (Arizona, New Mexico, Texas, and Oklahoma) of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, Forest Service. Broad-scale assessments are syntheses of current scientific knowledge, including a description of uncertainties and assumptions, to provide a characterization and comprehensive description of ecological, social, and economic components within an assessment area (USDA Forest Service 1999b). A primary purpose of volume 2 of the grassland assessment is to provide information to employees of the National Forest System for managing habitats and lands for wildlife and fish populations, both at the Forest Plan level for Plan amendments and revisions, and at the project level to place site-specific activities within the larger framework. This volume should also be useful to State, municipal, other Federal agencies, and to private landowners that manage or regulate wildlife and fish populations and their habitats in the Southwestern United States. The assessment is not a decision document because it identifies issues and risks to grassland ecosystems that provide the foundation for future changes to Forest Plans or project activities, but it does not make any site-specific decisions or recommendations.