2022 SageCon Annual Summit

Thanks to everyone who attended the 7th Annual SageCon Summit! If you missed it or want to find out more, you can access presentations, resources and recordings below.

The Oregon SageCon Partnership hosts an annual SageCon Summit event. On November 2-3, 2022 we hosted a hybrid meeting from Burns, Oregon. We were thrilled to have over 100 attendees in person and over 60 virtual attendees. Thanks to everyone who helped make the Summit a success!

Summit Themes

  • Connect partners working toward resilient rangelands in southeastern Oregon and across the Great Basin.

  • Share information, ideas and resources to leverage our collective knowledge, with an emphasis on strategies for addressing invasive annual grasses.

  • Inspire action to “defend and grow the core” and support locally-led collaborative efforts in 2023 and beyond.

Summit Agenda 2022

Meet our presenters!

Day 1: Main SageCon Summit - November 2, 8am-4pm Pacific standard time

Harney County Community Center

8:00 am Doors Open: coffee and pastries available

8:30 am Welcome: Brenda Smith (High Desert Partnership), Jay Gibbs (Natural Resources Conservation Service), Barry Shullanberger (Lake County Commissioner) (Video 00:00)

8:50 am Introductions and Agenda Overview (Video 11:11)

9:00 am Keynote Address from Chad Boyd (Agricultural Research Service): Changing with the range: Where are we now, where do we want to be, and how do we get there? (presentation slides) (Video 23:32)

9:20 am The State of the Range: A Statewide Look at Habitat, Populations, and Partnerships in Oregon (see the SageCon Dashboard) (Video 46:00)

10:30 am Break

10:45 am Locally-Led Collaboration Across the Range in Oregon (Video 1:53:56)

12:00 pm Lunch

12:45 pm Proactive Management to Defend and Grow the Core (Video 3:13:06)

2:00 pm Stories from the Field: How Partners Across Oregon are Addressing Invasive Annual Grasses (Video 3:44:35)

  • Marci Schreder (Wallowa Resources), Mark Porter (Oregon Department of Agriculture), Joe Kline (Natural Resources Conservation Service): Defend and Grow the Core, the Wallowa County Way (presentation slides)

  • Brenda Smith, Kaylee Littlefield, Josh Hanson (High Desert Partnership): Reducing Rangeland Wildfire Risk: The Southeastern Oregon Wildfire Resiliency Project (presentation slides)

  • Brandi St Clair (Lakeview SWCD): Reflections on defending the core in Lake County (moderated conversation)

  • Panel discussion with Marci Schreder, Mark Porter, Joe Kline, Josh Hanson, Brandi St Clair, and Megan McGuire (Vale BLM)

3:20 pm What Have We Learned and Where Do We Go From Here? (Video 5:10:45)

  • Anya Tyson (The Nature Conservancy): Opportunities to leverage federal funding to defend and grow Oregon’s core

3:40 pm Closing Thoughts and Wrap-up (Video 5:31:16)

  • Jeff Everett (US Fish & Wildlife Service): Reflections on rangeland resiliency and efforts to defend and grow core sagebrush rangelands

4:00 pm Close (Video 5:35:20)

Dinner event - November 2, 5:30-8pm

In-person attendees are invited to join us for dinner and social time at the Central Hotel after the first day of the Summit (dinner provided). We look forward to connecting with our partners in person after two years of virtual Summit events!

Day 2: Workshop - November 3, 8am-1:30pm Pacific standard time

Managing new realities on the range - Using a novel approach to coordinate planning and management on large landscapes

Purpose and objectives: This hands-on workshop will introduce SageCon partners to an integrated approach used by the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative to coordinate and integrate short- and long-term planning to promote resilient rangelands. Invasive annual grasses and wildfires present complex challenges, and managing for rangeland resilience requires individuals and organizations to strategically coordinate rangeland management activities at scale. This workshop introduces an integrated rangeland and fire management approach using Potential Operational Delineations (PODs) within the broader Defend and Grow the Core strategy. Participants will apply these principles using multiple data inputs to consider: 1) spatial scale for effective coordination, 2) entities to engage, 3) planning and management tools, and 4) decision-support tools and technologies for short- and long-term planning.

Agenda

8:00 am Doors Open: coffee and pastries available

8:15 am Presentations: What is landscape-scale rangeland and fire management planning, why we need it, and how it has been used by the Harney County Wildfire Collaborative in the Stinkingwater Mountains of northern Harney County. (presentation slides) (Video 00:00)

  • Presenters: Katie Wollstein, Vanessa Schroeder, Dustin Johnson (OSU extension); Chad Boyd (Agricultural Research Service); Megan Creutzburg (Institute for Natural Resources); Josh Hanson, Kaylee Littlefield (High Desert Partnership); Autumn Muir (Lake County Umbrella Watershed Council); Casey O’Connor (US Fish & Wildlife Service)

10:00 am Break, Stretch, and Set Up Small Groups - move to Elks Lodge for small group activity

10:30 am Facilitated Small Group Activity (Resources for Activity) (Video 1:42:05)

  • Introduce new project area and small group task

  • Hands-on learning: Small groups work together to apply the concepts and tools introduced in morning session of the workshop within a different geographic context in Oregon. Where can you defend, grow the core, and mitigate impacts in this new landscape?

12:00 pm Working Lunch

12:30 pm Group Discussion (unfortunately was not recorded in video)

1:20 pm SageCon Summit 2022 Closing Remarks (unfortunately was not recorded in video)

  • Note: see link above to Jeremy Maestas’ presentation

1:30 pm Close

Previous SageCon Summits

Review past SageCon Summits and the resources below: