Photosynthetic activity is evident throughout the growing season. Appropriate plant litter accumulates and is evenly distributed across the landscape. Landscapes composed of several plant communities that may be in a variety of successional stages and patterns. All the indicators associated with the plant and animal communities standard apply. There are stable and increasing populations of endemic and protected species in suitable habitat.
Suitable habitat is available for recovery of endemic and protected species.
Appropriate populations of macroinvertabrates, vertebrates, and algae are present. Currently, the only guidelines for BLM Colorado that have been developed in concert with the Resource Advisory Councils are livestock grazing management guidelines. Grazing management practices address the kind, numbers, and class of livestock, season, duration, distribution, frequency and intensity of grazing use and livestock health. Grazing management practices maintain sufficient residual vegetation on both upland and riparian sites to protect the soil from wind and water erosion, to assist in maintaining appropriate soil infiltration and permeability, and to buffer temperature extremes. In riparian areas, vegetation dissipates energy, captures sediment, recharges ground water, and contributes to stream stability.