This publication is a product of teamwork among University of California Cooperative Extension staff and statewide specialists. It represents an important collection of information on different aspects of monitoring. It is segregated into two different levels. Level I provides beginning or introductory aspects of monitoring. Level II deals with quantitative measurements and methodologies for monitoring.
This project originally began in 1993 and progressed into the end of 1994 when the first handbook was published. The chapters were again peer edited in 1998. The handbook has provided livestock ranchers with the tools to monitor rangeland and to document the level of stewardship within their operations. Issues such as clean water, public land grazing, and endangered species will be greatly influenced by the quality of information available, therefore ranchers need to know how to gather and interpret information in order to be part of the decision-making process that manages rangelands.
The earlier version of the manual received considerable statewide and national acclaim and significant publicity on the GrazeL worldwide web site. It’s been sold in the western United States, Canada, and Australia. Since the handbook has had such success, the authors decided to make it more readily available on the internet. Please take the time to review the list of authors and acknowledgements.
