The alaska center for conservation science (accs) at the university of alaska anchorage (UAA) proposes to collect assessment, inventory and monitoring (aim) data in support of land health monitoring…

The University of Alaska Anchorage (UAA) was awarded a $936,503 Cooperative Agreement by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) under the Rangeland Resource Management program (CFDA 15.237) to collect Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring (AIM) data to support land health monitoring on BLM-administered lands in the Anchorage Field Office. UAA, in collaboration with the BLM, will collect biophysical data following standard AIM protocols and may add supplemental indicators to assess the potential for wildlife habitat. The AIM data will help inform BLM's adaptive management of these lands to maintain productivity, increase carbon sequestration, and build climate resilience, supporting activities such as grazing, subsistence use, hunting, and recreation. The award period runs from September 2024 through September 2029.

The alaska center for conservation science (accs) at the university of alaska anchorage (UAA) proposes to collect assessment, inventory and monitoring (aim) data in support of land health monitoring conducted by the bureau of land management (BLM). In collaboration with the BLM, we will collect biophysical data from lands administered by the anchorage field office following standard aim protocols supplemental indicators may be added to assess the potential for habitat to support wildlife species of interest. With guidance from the BLM, accs will prepare for the field campaign, conduct field work, and submit the final dataset and an implementation summary report to the blms national operation center (NOC).the biden-harris administration identifies tackling the climate change crisis at home and abroad as a federal priority (executive order 14008). To this end, they call on agencies to increase the conservation and resilience of the nations lands, waters, and biodiversity. The BLM alaska state office - rangeland management program has identified maintaining or achieving land health and productivity, increasing carbon sequestration, and creating resilient landscapes to benefit current and future generations as priorities. Using the best available science to address these priorities depends, in part, on the detail and accuracy of the foundational data. The aim strategy provides a statistically robust, science-based method that the BLM, partner agencies, and local communities can use to manage landscapes and communities towards ecological resilience. The rangeland management program conducts inventories, assessments and evaluations of vegetation and soil conditions to measure progress towards meeting land health standards. In alaska, this work involves decisions regarding grazing and other range management treatments, soil management, and invasive species. Implementation of the aim strategy provides excellent support for alaska-specific rangeland management goals as IT collects detailed information on the biophysical characteristics (e.g., vegetation composition and structure, soil character and competence) of a site that can be extrapolated to the landscape scale. Aim data can help inform specific management actions by describing and mapping the distribution of plant species and habitats important to wildlife to inform, for example, reintroduction initiatives. The work proposed here will provide decision support for the adaptive management of BLM lands so that natural resources are maintained for present and future use. Specific to rangeland management, the collection of aim data will help build landscapes that are resilient to climate change and in this way, remain available for multiple public uses such as the harvest of subsistence resources, reindeer gazing, hunting, trapping, fishing, and recreation.