A Decision Support Tool Using an Open-Source Methodology for Identifying Woody Encroachment and Juniper Species...

As a result of 20th century farming practices, fire suppression, grazing pressures, federal agriculture policies, drought, and related factors, juniper trees have experienced a dramatic increase in abundance across the Great Plains region, including millions of acres in Oklahoma. This invasive vegetation poses a significant threat to the environment, soil health, cultural resources and economies within the Cross Timbers region of the Chickasaw Nation in south-central Oklahoma. To combat these negative impacts, the Chickasaw Nation (CN) has undertaken a proactive approach to evaluate the extent of juniper encroachment within the CN treaty territory (CNTT) and to use this information to make an economic case to landowners for the implementation of both prescribed burns, and juniper removal in general. This article describes the creation of a species-focused evaluation methodology, model, and decision-support tool, called the Juniper Evaluation Tool (JET), that is simple, open-source, and applicable at an appropriate spatial scale to assist landowners, land managers, and CN resource managers in targeting best management practices and slowing the encroachment of juniper tree species. The JET, a product of a Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Conservation Innovation Grant (CIG), builds on the methods and functions of other planning tools, such as the Rangeland Analysis Platform (RAP) and the Rangeland Brush Estimation Toolbox (RaBET), but the outputs are tailored to parcel-level management for watershed conservation planning in the CNTT. The JET aims to be a resource that is replicable, scalable, and actionable, and may provide the basis for an expanded tool that can be applied in other parts of Oklahoma and the Great Plains.