The effects of conservation practices applied to Great Basin rangelands have not been documented. The Natural Resource Conservation Service has requested the assistance of the Agricultural Research Service and the University of Nevada, Reno in documenting the effectiveness of various conservation practices on improving soil quality, soil water retention, forage and wildlife habitat. To that end ARS and UNR have agreed to develop research projects focused on the goal of assessing the impacts of various conservation practices on the Great Basin ecosystem.
The primary purpose is to construct the scientific foundation for the Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) by documenting what is known and what is not known about the environmental effects of conservation practices on rangelands hydrologic and plant growth processes. The work will focus on the effects of conservation practices applied to rangelands on the following environmental outcomes: water availability, water quality, soil quality, habitat, forage availability, and fuel reductions.