Monitoring for Success

Monitoring protocols should be developed with management goals in mind. The best management goals are stated in such a way that progress toward meeting them can be easily understood and measured. A vegetation management goal should:

• Clearly describe the desired end point of the management activity – what the land should look like when the work is completed.
• Be written in terms of conditions and activities that can be measured.
• List a timeframe for expected results.

If the land manager or the grazing service provider wants to measure effectiveness of the targeted grazing practices, someone needs to measure and monitor land response. However, who should do the monitoring is less clear. All parties involved can benefit from monitoring. But a meaningful and effective monitoring program is often time-consuming and may require training and experience. The party responsible for monitoring and the expected monitoring activities should be clearly outlined in each contracted grazing endeavor. At a minimum, the land manager and service provider should regularly take photos and conduct joint site visits. Another alternative for monitoring is to hire a third party consultant. People who are trained and hold credentials in natural resource management, such as a Certified Range Management Consultant or a licensed consulting forester, can work with land managers and service providers to implement monitoring programs that assess progress toward project goals.

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