The spread of invasive annual grasses – such as cheatgrass, medusahead and ventenata – is causing major damage to western working lands. To date, many control efforts have been reactive, focusing on highly infested areas where control is more expensive and has a lower likelihood of success.

The toolkit is comprised of three elements:

• A roadmap for invasive grass management in the West, with new best management practices for the identification, protection, and expansion of “core” areas – regions with relatively low, or no, annual grass invasion;
• Case studies highlighting the application of these practices in Idaho and Wyoming; and
• A new geospatial data layer that uses analytical tools to compile existing federal data to help state and local managers assess invasive annual grasses within their jurisdictions, while also offering opportunities to identify new cross-boundary collaborative projects.

The toolkit is a product of a June 2019 Shared Stewardship Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) between WGA and the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which set forth an agreement to pursue efforts to meaningfully address the large-scale infestation of invasive annual grasses on western forests and rangelands.

Read, download the toolkit.

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