Implementing an adaptive, multi-scale restoration program for the Kane and Two-Mile ranches in northern Arizona

In 2005, the Grand Canyon Trust and The Conservation Fund jointly purchased the Kane and Two Mile ranches, whose livestock grazing permits extend across nearly 850,000 acres and a 2,000m elevation gradient north of the Grand Canyon.  We used a field- and remote sensing-based rapid ecological assessment of the ranches in 2005 to identify and prioritize linked restoration and livestock management strategies across the project area.  Analysis of landscape-scale vegetation and soil characteristics has allowed us to prioritize appropriate initial locations for site-specific restoration efforts.  We have initiated seven site-specific grassland, woodland, forest, and stream restoration projects whose results are being used in combination with landscape-scale baseline assessment results to inform broader landscape-scale restoration efforts.  Expanded efforts are being systematically focused along key ecological gradients to account for and learn from the significant heterogeneity existing across the project area.  We have also used assessment results to characterize “baseline” conditions, and to inform the development of a long-term, multi-scaled monitoring and adaptive management plan for the project area.  By working adaptively and systematically across scales we intend to develop and implement restoration approaches that are efficient, effective and relevant to emerging public lands management challenges across the southwestern United States.