Rangelands | Extension | University of Nevada, Reno

Practical rangelands information you can trust

Information, programs and training to help ranchers, agencies and other stakeholders with the complex issues facing Nevada's rangelands.

Featured Programs

Living With Fire

Nevada Naturalist

Fire Toolkit Portal

Featured Fact Sheet

Climate Change Impacts in Nevada

Summarized in this fact sheet are specific details about how climate change has already and will continue to impact the state of Nevada and strategies that can be used to prepare for these changes.

All Rangelands Programs

Cattlemen's Update

Cattlemen’s Update is Extension’s annual educational program offered for beef cattle producers to learn about issues affecting profitability and product quality in the Great Basin region.

Resource Stewardship improves rangeland management cb

Collaborative Resource Stewardship improves rangeland management

Extension has helped lead Collaborative Resource Stewardship efforts in northeastern Nevada over the past seven years, resulting in a model for other states and areas.

Conservation & Sustainability

Extension offices provide support and research for many conservation initiatives throughout the state of Nevada. In addition, a partnership with Nevada's Conservation Districts has been formed which assists both organizations with the overall vision of Conservation for the state of Nevada while providing additional education and resources to help conserve Nevada's natural resources.

Fire Toolkit Portal

The toolkit is developed to provide guidance for communities and on-the-ground organizers engaging in collaborative planning to reduce their threat to wildfire.

Living With Fire

Helping Nevadans and visitors prepare for wildfire

Nevada Creeks & Communities

An interagency and interdisciplinary program designed to meet Nevada's need for riparian management education. The program team teaches workshops and submits proposals; writes articles and publications; and works with landowners, land users, and interest groups and agencies.

Nevada Naturalist

This program educates adult volunteers who educate others and engage in environmental projects in southern Nevada.

Nevada Youth Range Camp Program

Most of Nevada’s youth live in large urban environments, with little exposure to rangelands, forests or agricultural environments, and the products and services rangelands provide. This program teaches students ages 14-18 how to read maps; identify and the importance of rangeland plants; evaluate sagebrush, woodland and stream ecosystems; wildlife habitat; and many other topics related to rangelands.

Sustainable Agricultural Practices Program

Extension conducts several sustainable agriculture programs including researching alternative crops, introducing sustainable biodiversity/multiple use of rangelands, and increasing the number of pest control materials labeled in and increasing the knowledge and implementation rate of Integrated Pest Management practices in Nevada.

Weed Prevention & Management

Integrated weed management is based on economically viable and environmentally friendly weed management tactics that combine use of herbicides with other control tactics, such as mowing, burning, tillage, grazing and re-vegetation. By taking steps to prevent weed invasion, land owners/managers and other stakeholders can avoid the economic and environmental impacts of noxious and invasive weeds.

Rangeland related Books, Articles, Fact Sheets, Reports, Videos...


2023 Nevada Small Agriculture Conference Tentative Agenda The Nevada Small Agriculture Conference is being coordinated by Nevada Farm Bureau members with the assistance of the University of Nevada, Reno Extension and Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (WSARE). It will be held on August 25-26, 2023 at the Santa Fe Station in Las Vegas, NV. Chapin, K. 2023, University of Nevada, Reno Extension
A Change in the Ecological Understanding of Rangelands in the Great Basin and Intermountain West and Implications for Management: Revisiting Mack and Thompson (1982) Perryman, P., Schultz, B., Meiman, P. 2021, Rangeland Ecology & Management Vol 76, Pages 1-11
A Homeowner's Guide to Planting Crested Wheatgrass The following description for planting crested wheatgrass applies to homeowners seeding relatively small areas (less than two acres) and who do not have access to specialized rangeland seeding equipment. For larger planting efforts, contact your local University of Nevada Cooperative Extension office for suggestions. Smith, E., Davison, J., Carlos, B. 1999, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno, FS-99-96
A Homeowner’s Guide to Cheatgrass Cheatgrass, also known as downy brome and bronco grass, is an annual plant native to Europe and Asia. Cheatgrass has a serious environmental impact on Nevada. It dries out very quickly, becoming extremely flammable. This increases the occurrence and intensity of fires in sagebrush areas. Davison, J. and Smith, E. 2006, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno, FS-05-29
A summative evaluation of the Nevada Youth Range Camp educational program. Foster, S.S., Schultz, B.W., McAdoo, J.K., and Swanson, S. 2014, Journal National Association of County Agricultural Agents. 7:1.
Aboriginal Precedent for Active Management of Sagebrush Perennial grass Communities in the Great Basin. Restoration measures should be scientifically based and tailored to achieve ecological resilience and functionality in specific sites. Prescribed fire is not always ecologically appropriate or judicious, especially in Wyoming big sagebrush communities, so managers should consider using other alternatives. McAdoo, J.K., B.W. Schultz, and S.R. Swanson. 2013, Rangeland Ecology and Management 66(3):241-253.
Aquatic Habitat Condition Index, Stream Type, and Livestock Bank Damage in Northern Nevada The quality of stream habitat varies for a variety of natural and anthropogenic reasons not identified by a condition index. However, many people use condition indices to indicate management needs or even direction... Myers, T. J. and S. Swanson 1991, Water Resources Bull., 27(4):667-677
Be Careful! Cheatgrass is extremely flammable! Dry cheatgrass is one of the most easily ignitable substances on Nevada's rangelands. It is the kindling that fuels many of our wildfires. Once ignited, cheatgrass fires can travel very fast. Be careful! Be prepared! Smith, Ed, Davison, Jay 2008, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno SP-05-08
Bridging the Gap between Rangeland Management and Rangeland Research: The Need for Regular Inclusion of Synthetic Review Articles in the Journal of Range Management. Schultz, B.W., and Zamudio, D. 1998, Rangelands. 20(5):30-35.
Buying Seed: Understanding Analysis, Certification and Treatment Tags Understanding the components of seed labels and certification tags is important when purchasing seed for wildland restoration projects. Learn the common components of a seed label and the different seed certification tags issued by official seed-certifying agencies. Taylor, M. and Wilhelm, R. 2019, Extension \| University of Nevada, Reno
Changes on Streambanks in the Sierra Nevada Mountains: A dry and wet year perspective We summarize the findings of a two-year study of vegetation and streambank erosion on incised streams. We conducted the first year of the research during the sixth year of a drought. During the second year of study, precipitation totals ranged from normal to 200% of normal... Zonge, L. and S. Swanson 1996, Restoration Ecology, 4(2):192-199.
Channel changes in burned streams of northern Nevada In the Great Basin, frequency of large-fire is increasing. To better understand fire and riparian system interactions, we studied pre- to post-fire changes in ten riparian attributes of a randomly sampled reach of forty three streams burned within a three-year period... Kozlowski, D., Swanson, S. R., Schmidt, K. 2010, Journal of Arid Environments 74(11), 1494-1506.

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