The images can also be married to yield maps. Sensing remote areas Aerial photos can be especially useful for mapping fields in remote areas. A group of ranchers and groups interested in resource management in Wyoming have been working together the past five years to gather aerial images of rangeland in areas that are not readily accessible by ground. The program is trying to monitor rangeland conditions, map prairie dog holes, and map leafy spurge infestations to provide objective information about the general condition of rangeland leased from the government, says Jim Foreman, a rancher from Ten Sleep, Wyoming. We don't make any money unless we take care of the land.
Leafy spurge is a perennial noxious weed that's spreading on rangelands.
Cattle won't eat it and herbicides provide inconsistent control so they're trying to develop an integrated weed management program. Potential spurge management plans include use of herbicides, releasing insects that attack the weeds, and use of sheep and goats to graze the infested areas. Need a baseline The weed team is developing baseline information to be able to monitor changes in the leafy spurge area. By isolating known areas of leafy spurge on a digital map, they can use the computer to highlight other areas of the map that have the same reflectance signature. That gives them an accurate map of leafy spurge infestations to use in tracking changes in the size of the infested areas following various treatments, Kalus says.