UFA2. Sedge-Slender wheatgrass/Meadow rue 19 UFA3. Tufted hairgrass-Sedge UFA4. Tufted hairgrass-Sedge-Slender wheatgrass UFA5. Rough fescue-Tufted hairgrass UFA6. Rough fescue-Hairy wildrye UFA7. Rough fescue/Bearberry UFA8. California oatgrass-Sedge UFA9. Junegrass/Sage UFAIO. Early yellow locoweed-Bearberry/Slender wheatgrass UFAl 1. Fireweed/Hairy wildrye(Forb meadow) UFA12. Rough fescue-Bog sedge UFA13. Alpine rough fescue B. Shrublands UFB 1. Willow-Bog birchAVater sedge 1 UFB2. Willow/Slender wheatgrass-Sedge UFB3. Willow/Tufted hairgrass UFB4. Willow/Rough fescue UFB5. Bog birch/Rough fescue/Bearberry iii IJFB6. Willow/California oatgrass-Sedge 36 UFB7. Pussy willow shrubland 37 UFB8. Willow/Hairy wildrye-Sedge 38 UFB9. Bog birch/Sedge-Marsh reedgrass 39 UFB 10. Willow-Bog birch/Sedge 40 UFBll. Willow-Bog birch C. Shrublands and Grasslands modified by grazing 42 UFC 1. Slender wheatgrass-Sedge/Low forbs UFC2. Rocky Mtn. fescue/Graceful cinquefoil 46 UFC3. Kentucky bluegrass/Dandelion 47 UFC4. Kentucky bluegrass-Sedge/Dandelion UFC5. Tufted hairgrass-Kentucky bluegrass UFC6. Sedge-Tufted hairgrass UFC7. Creeping red fescue/Clover D. Deciduous community types UFDl. Aspen-Lodgepole pine/Purple oatgrass UFD2. Balsam poplar-White spruceAVillowAfellow Mtn. avens UFD3. Aspen/Rose/Hairy wildrye IJFD4. Aspen-White spruce/Buffaloberry/Hairy wildrye E. Conifer community types UFEl. Lodgepole pine/Bog cranberry UFE2. Lodgepole pine-White spruce/Bunchberry UFE3. Lodgepole pineAVillowMoss IJFE4. Lodgepole pine/Marsh reedgrass UFE5. Black spruceAVillow UFE6. White spruce/Horsetail/Moss UFE7. White spruceAVillow UFE8. White spruce/Bearberry

No abstract

This project involved the use of ten Global Positioning System (GPS) collars to monitor cattle grazing behaviour and habitat use across a diverse mosaic of forested and non-forested range plant community types including regenerating aspen forest. Cattle use of all native plant community types was secondary to tame forages, including aspen cutblocks. If there are other community types available that are preferred above regenerating deciduous communities cattle are unlikely to use cutblock areas until forage is depleted in the preferred community types, unless cutblocks are in close proximity to preferred communities and/or unless prompted to do so with livestock distribution tools. When planning the integration of livestock grazing and timber harvest it is important to have information on livestock range use preferences (e.g. as indicated by range health scores) prior to determining cutblock location, access, and harvest design. Do cattle avoid regenerating deciduous cutblocks when alternative plant communities (mature deciduous forest, tame pasture, wetlands, etc.) are available within the same management unit? 2. Is there a density (stems/ha) of regenerating deciduous trees that acts as a barrier to livestock distribution? 3. Is forage production a limiting factor for livestock use of deciduous cutblocks?

The Rangeland Reference Area program administered by the Land and Forest Service was established by the Eastern Rockies Forest Conservation Board to assess range condition and monitor trend on rangelands within the boundaries of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve (RMFR). Forty-five fenced exclosures have been established in the Forest Reserve. These exclosures include permanently marked grazed and ungrazed transects. Species composition data has been recorded on these transects since 1953 when many of the sites were established. Recently, the data of these sites has been analyzed in order to determine the successional pathways in the presence and absence of grazing. This long-term data used in conjunction with a detailed ecological classification of the range community types will help to determine the health of the forested rangelands in the province. This report evaluates and discusses the range condition and trend of the Seven Mile Creek Rangeland Reference Area. This reference area was established in 1964 on a glacial lacustrine veneer over glacio-fluvial gravel adjacent to Seven Mile creek in the Clearwater grazing allotment. The site is located within the Upper Foothills subregion and is part of the group of community types represented by the meadow ecosite (Willoughby and Smith 1997, Beckingham et al. 1996).

The Rangeland Reference Area program administered by the Land and Forest Service was established by the Eastern Rockies Forest Conservation Board to assess range condition and monitor trend on rangelands within the boundaries of the Rocky Mountain Forest Reserve (RMFR). Forty-five fenced exclosures have been established in the Forest Reserve. These exclosures include permanently marked grazed and ungrazed transects. Species composition data has been recorded on these transects since 1953 when many of the sites were established. Recently, the data of these sites has been analyzed in order to determine the successional pathways in the presence and absence of grazing. This long-term data used in conjunction with a detailed ecological classification of the range community types will help to determine the health of the forested rangelands in the province. This report evaluates and discusses the range condition and trend of the Castle River Rangeland Reference Area. This reference area was established in 1953 on a glacialfluvial terrace adjacent to the Castle River. It is located within the Montane subregion and is part of the group of community types represented by the rough fescue ecosite (Willoughby et al. 1997). VI Ktr-'s3rtM0'^] Hffi ' ' * P R3W J#*,7r''-i^'£j[^L.' & .'Wll 4j'.