2011 Annual Report 1a.Objectives (from AD-416) To provide quantitative information and analytical tools that can be used to evaluate the impact of selected grazingland conservation practices on natural resource values. 1b.Approach (from AD-416) This objective will be achieved by improving inventory and monitoring techniques and conducting field measurements of the impacts of brush control, prescribe burning, vegetative seeding, grazing systems, and other conservation practices on soil and water quality including the movement of nutrients and particulate matter and significant changes in biodiversity. 3.Progress Report This report documents progres for project number 5370-11220-006-18R which started in March, 2011 and continues research from project number 5370-11220-006-13R, entitled, "Conservation Effects Assessment Project - Grazinglands". This project was established in support of Objective 2 of the in-house project: Devise management guidelines, technologies, and practices for conserving and restoring Great Basin rangelands. The USDA team working on Conservation Effects Assessment Project (CEAP) has developed a new process based model for assessing soil erosion rates on rangeland hillslopes. The Rangeland Hydrology and Erosion Model (RHEM) was developed exclusively from data collected from rangeland erosion experiments. The model is designed to use data that is routinely collected by rangeland managers. RHEM will be used to calculate runoff and erosion at the hillslope scale and will replace the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation on grazing lands. The team has completed analysis of data from over 10,000 field sites collected by NRCS in support of the National Resources Inventory. This model is scheduled for release by NRCS as part of its streamlining conservation initiative in 2013. The team has developed 2 publications that summarize water induced soil erosion on rangelands for the Nation in support of the USDA Resource Conservation Assessment report that was submitted to Congress in January of 2011. The team conducted 2 special symposiums on the Conservation Effects Assessment Projects progress on estimating soil loss on rangelands at the 2011 Society for Range Management Annual Meeting in Billings, Montana and at the Soil and Water Conservation Society Annual Meeting in Washington, District of Columbia. The project is monitored through monthly teleconferences with his ARS and NRCS partner’s to discuss the status of the project. The ARS and NRCS partners met four times in FY 2011 to review progress on the project and make adjustments as required to achieve milestones and obtain project goals. This project replaces 5370-11220-006-09R and 5370-11220-006-13R.