MANCOS SHALE LANDSCAPES: SCIENCE AND MANAGEMENT OF BLACK SHALE TERRAINS - - A MULTI-AGENCY PROJECT

Regions underlain by black shale, especially in arid terrains, pose significant problems for land-use managers. In many areas insufficient data exist for resource and land managers to formulate scientifically supportable policies for the stewardship of the landscapes. In general, the major geologic processes responsible for the evolution of the landscapes and their associated resources are understood. However, there is a lack of detailed understanding that is required to quantify the processes or to create predictive models that can accurately account for changes in land use (off-highway vehicles, grazing, irrigation, etc.), climate, and National resource need, among others.

Mancos Shale Landscapes of the western United States have become a focal point for the need to develop science information to support sound land-management policies. This need has arisen primarily because of (1) increased and changing demands for land use and (2) issues (such as salt, selenium and sediment loading; and soil, vegetation and habitat disturbance) related to the health of the upper Colorado River. Concurrently, there has been an increased awareness within the scientific community of a need to better understand processes leading to the concentration and dispersal of both economically important elements and environmentally sensitive elements in black-shale sequences.

This project is designed to bring together researchers and managers from the USGS, BLM, BOR, and NRCS to define and begin investigating the most critical issues facing land managers. Work is concentrated on the Gunnision Gorge National Conservation Area in western Colorado but is linked to other Mancos landscape study sites in Colorado and Utah. Topics being addressed include the (a) development of process-oriented models describing the erosion of Mancos Shale and the impacts of various types of land use; (b) construction of a model describing pedogenesis of the Mancos Shale; (c) development of remote-sensing soil-surface mapping techniques; (d) examination of the interrelationships between plant populations, vascular and biological soil-crust community, geomorphology, soil chemistry, and geology; and (e) development of effective information transfer and visualization methodologies that will facilitate the integration of science and management.