Background Restoration treatments and actions across private, state, and federal status lands aim to improve rangelands to increase resiliency to disturbance and restore healthy ecosystems. The goal of the proposed project is to evaluate the effectiveness of restoration treatment projects using standardized, rapid methods and to combine that information with existing resources to improve adaptative management, efficiency, and effectiveness of management actions on western rangelands. The project: (1) shall provide effectiveness monitoring of BIL and other state/federally-funded conservation efforts designed to reduce invasive annual grass, conifer encroachment, and wildfire threats; (2) shall incorporate treatment and monitoring data into the Land Treatment Digital Library (LTDL) and Land Treatment Exploration Tool (LTET) to facilitate analyses and share outcomes among practitioners to better inform large-scale habitat restoration efforts benefiting sagebrush obligate species and species of concern; (3) supplies field-based data to enhance remotely-sensed rule-sets, products, and decision support tools (e.g., Rangeland Applications Platform and WAFWA’s Sagebrush Conservation Design); and( 4) supports the Conservation Efforts Database (CED) by informing implementation and effectiveness status of previous conservation projects to support policy and decisions relating to sagebrush species of concern. Task 1: Dashboard Two dashboards are required to be designed and implemented in a phased approach. First, develop a basic map with search parameters paired with simple graphs, tables and figures that will be produced using custom coding to highlight various protocol data. Additional map and search parameters shall be produced to allow data to be grouped, displayed, and summarized in a variety of ways, such as in relation to elevation, precipitation, soil, or ecostate regimes. The contractor shall produce advanced comparisons to allow treatments to be summarized and compared side-by-side and through time. The dashboard platforms developed must be ArcGIS products for the internal-facing dashboard due to its excellent spatial display and search capabilities, real-time preliminary data access, and direct link to the Survey123 data allowing the working group to see preliminary data as soon as it's submitted. Public Facing Dashboard: Must be Tableau platform or the equivalent dashboard. The data, layout, and summaries available on the dashboard must provide ease in construction, superior graphing and summarization capabilities, and easy publication capabilities. Internal Dashboard: An ArcGIS dashboard will be a private/internal dashboard. Data will range from preliminary to published with warnings to the users about the status of the data. The dashboard may be built using a combination of ArcGIS Hub, Experience Builder, or Dashboard. The data, layout, and summaries available on the ArcGIS dashboard will be broader and contain more detail to allow the working group to see preliminary, real-time information. Task 2: Effectiveness Monitoring The Contractor must consult with state and federal partners regarding priority funded (and other related) projects to monitor in Nevada. The Contractor will conduct standardized monitoring of restoration projects using trained crews, and coordinate with NDOW crews whenever possible. Data used shall incorporate spatial records, treatment metadata, and monitoring data for rangeland restoration efforts into LTDL and incorporate into the LTET for decision support. Once field work is complete, the contractor will meet with NDOW and other partners sharing preliminary data about short-term effectiveness (or outcomes) of restoration actions. This project will help demonstrate the utility and power of incorporating Nevada project data with the LTDL/LTET.
