Are Natural Resources Conservation Service Range Management Investments Working at Cross-Purposes With Wildlife Habitat Goals on Western United States Rangelands?

• Published in: Rangeland ecology & management Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 351 - 355
• Main Authors: Toombs, Theodore P., Roberts, Martha G.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Rangeland Ecology & Management, P.O. Box 7065, Lawrence, KS 66044 Society for Range Management 01.07.2009; Elsevier Inc; Allen Press Publishing Services; Elsevier Limited
• Subjects: Agricultural production; Animal husbandry; Birds; Conservation programs; Ecologists; economic analysis; ecosystem heterogeneity; Ecosystems; Environmental quality; Environmental stewardship; fences; Forum; grassland birds; grasslands; Grazing management; grazing systems; Habitat conservation; land management; land management policy; Livestock; livestock distribution; Natural resources; Natural Resources Conservation Service; Pastures; range improvement; Range management; rangeland policy; Ranking systems; Rotational grazing; spatial distribution; spatial variation; vegetation; water troughs; wild birds; Wildlife conservation; Wildlife habitats; Wildlife management; United States; USA; land management policy; wildlife management; grazing management; ecosystem heterogeneity; livestock distribution; grazing systems; grassland birds; rangeland policy
• ISSN: 1550-7424; 1551-5028; 1551-5028
• DOI: 10.2111/08-027.1

Wildlife conservationists and agencies have recommended managing rangelands for vegetation heterogeneity to improve wildlife habitat, particularly for many grassland birds. However, range management focuses on livestock production and associated practices and structural items (fences, water developments) that are applied to improve livestock distribution. This article assesses the occurrence of livestock distribution–oriented grazing management in the spending and applied practices of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), the federal agency charged with assisting private landowners with implementation of US Department of Agriculture conservation programs. NRCS applied practices and spending both suggest an emphasis on livestock distribution and associated structures, with almost 20 million ha of prescribed grazing systems, 10 000 km of fence, and 127 000 water facilities implemented in 17 western states with assistance from NRCS programs between 2004 and 2007. Ninety percent of funding for 2005 Conservation Security Program grazing enhancements supported investments or management related to livestock distribution. We suggest that increasing the emphasis of NRCS conservation programs and financial assistance on maintaining or increasing compositional and structural heterogeneity of vegetation, rather than on livestock distribution, could be an approach that unifies livestock production and wildlife habitat objectives. In particular, including vegetation heterogeneity as a central goal for upland wildlife habitat management could be a key opportunity to increase incentives for heterogeneity-promoting management on privately owned rangeland.