View thesis.
The purpose of this project is to determine the importance of considering specific ecological effects of cheatgrass-associated wildfires on a ranch-level economic model. This study assumes that a representative Oregon 300 cow-calf ranch possesses a Bureau of Land Management (BLM) allotment that exhibits ecological characteristics typical of sagebrush steppe sites that are vulnerable to continued cheatgrass invasion. This project utilizes biological data gathered as part of the on-going Sagebrush Steppe Treatment Evaluation Project (SageSTEP) from a high desert land type in eastern Oregon.