Presenters: Teagan Hayes (IWJV), Miranda Redmond (UC Berkeley), Ian Barrett (USWFS), James Savage (USWFS), Tyler Corbin (USWFS), John Ott (WFS)

Summary: The focus of this meeting was on efforts that address knowledge gaps in the management of pinyon-juniper woodlands. We learned about the Pinyon-Juniper Spatial Project, an effort to develop biome-scale mapping products looking at ecological integrity and threats to pinyon-juniper woodlands. We also heard from the Dawson Project, a collaboration between the BLM in Colorado and researchers to experimentally test silvicultural treatments in pinyon-juniper woodlands. See our highlights of the session:

• We recapped the first Pinyon-Juniper Management Network meeting by summarizing some key opportunities for the PJMN to support managers, identified by the meeting participants. Here’s the biggest takeaways:
• Teagan Hayes, Science to Implementation Specialist at the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWVJ), introduced the Pinyon-Juniper Spatial Project. This project, facilitated by the IWJV, brings together researchers from across the biome to compile and develop mapping products addressing ecological integrity in pinyon-juniper woodlands.
  • Goals of the project include: Fostering knowledge-sharing, developing a model of ecological integrity, mapping PJ woodlands across the biome, and sharing management-relevant spatial products and supporting materials.
  • The project is currently working on developing an “area of Interest” and extent maps for the project. Future conversations will address what ecological integrity in woodlands looks like and how to map it, as well as addressing regional variation across the biome. 
  • If PJMN group members are interested in reviewing mapping products or being involved in conversations about ecological integrity or regional variation, please fill out this Google Form or contact Teagan directly ([email protected]).
• The Dawson Project team, including researcher Miranda Redmond from UC Berkeley and USFWS folks from Colorado (legacy BLM) introduced this effort to test silvicultural treatments in pinyon-juniper woodlands. Their presentation covered the goals and setup of the project, ongoing research, and early results and lessons learned.
  • In Southwest Colorado, fuels specialists and researchers have come together to experimentally evaluate different silvicultural treatments for enhancing pinyon-juniper ecosystem health and reducing fire risk. This interdisciplinary team has implemented replicated silvicultural treatments that vary in spatial complexity and amount of thinning in pinyon-juniper woodlands spanning an elevational gradient. They are interested in understanding how to manage pinyon-juniper ecosystems in the long term for drought and wildfire. 
  • Treatments tested include control (untreated), a heterogenous treatment with clumping, and two intensities of uniform thinning. All treatments were implemented using hand cutting, with piling and burning of residuals. No trees above 12 inches in diameter or snags were cut. 
  • A lot of back-and-forth between BLM and researchers was needed to arrive on treatments that balanced ecological goals and implementation logistics. The team worked together to cut sample treatments to show to contractors before implementing the larger experimental design. They discussed the logistics of implementing these treatments, and the need for oversight of contractors by a contracting officer. 
  • An important lesson learned that is being implemented in future projects is that if piles were burned too close to living trees, these trees were likely to die from the effects of radiant heat. Their analyses showed that piles needed to be at least 15ft away from living trees to avoid these effects. 
  • Initial research results showed that treated areas had higher deep soil moisture in the spring and early summer. They saw the greatest increases in tree growth in the most intensive treatments. Ongoing work will consider how woodland health and wildfire risk changes over time. 
• The last 30 minutes of the session was spent on questions and discussion. There was a lot of interest from the group in the project, and a number of participants had or were implementing similar approaches in other parts of the biome.
  • Many folks were interested in the wildlife responses to these types of treatments. Although the Dawson Project team was interested in looking at responses of wildlife like the pinyon jay, ultimately, the size of the project was too small to understand effects on a species with such a large homerange. 
  • Other similar treatments, which used practices such as variable thinning, clumping spatial patterns, mimicking fire, or creating mosaics on the landscape, were reported by others in Arizona and New Mexico. Did you miss the meeting and are you doing similar work elsewhere? We’d love to hear from you!
  • There was a lot of discussion about what to do with residuals after projects. Some folks burned piles, while others saw most residuals removed for firewood or use in process-based restoration projects or for erosion control. 
  • Folks from New Mexico were interested in organizing a field tour of pinyon-juniper projects. If you are interested, please reach out to Peggy and Yasmeen.

Links and Resources:

• Video and landing page about the Dawson project
• Slides from meeting introduction and the Pinyon-Juniper Spatial Project
• Slides from the Dawson Project presentation

Presenters: Danika Thiele and Mariah McIntosh

Summary: The Pinyon-Juniper Management Network launched its first meeting on March 26th, 2026. The goal of the meeting was to introduce the Network to participants and gather feedback on how the Network can best serve managers in Pinyon-Juniper Woodlands. Meeting highlights include the following:

• Danika Thiele, of the Ecological Restoration Institute at Northern Arizona University, and Mariah McIntosh, of Intermountain West Joint Venture, introduced themselves and their organizations as the Network’s facilitators. Both are excited to bring capacity to support woodland managers. 
• Mariah and Danika introduced the Pinyon-Juniper Management Network and a broad vision for how the Network can support managers.
  • The need to convene managers and others working in pinyon-juniper woodlands is underscored by the large extent of these woodlands, their relative underrepresentation in science and management, and increasing threats, including catastrophic wildfire–especially in close proximity to human communities–, drought, disease and insect infestations, invasive species, etc. 
  • The mission of the Pinyon-Juniper Management Network is to create an interdisciplinary space where land managers, tribal partners, and others working in PJ can connect to build shared understanding, exchange knowledge, and foster co-produced solutions. 
  • Potential focuses of the group could include building connections (through Network meetings, sub-groups, in-person meetings, etc.) and exchanging knowledge (through science roundups/synthesis, resource lists, factsheets, effort communication, etc.). These ideas are just the beginning, and participants shared additional ideas later in the meeting. 
• The majority of the meeting was spent getting feedback from participants on their needs and ideas for the Network. We used breakout rooms to ask participants to respond to the following questions:
  • What does success look like after one year of PJMN?
  • What do you want to know more about?
  • What are 2–3 practical things this group should produce or support?
  • What should we not try to be? What isn’t useful?

If you missed the meeting and would like to weigh in, please email your responses to Danika ([email protected]) and Mariah ([email protected]). A summary of responses for the meetings is included below.

Links and Resources:

• Summary of participant responses
• Map of participant locations: