Rangeland Ecology & Management

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SUSTAINABLE RANGELANDS ROUNDTABLE OVERVIEW
Author
Maczko, Kristie
Tanaka, John A.
Fox Iii, William E.
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2014
Body

The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) is an open, inclusive partnership process with a 13-year history of developing economic, ecological and social criteria and indicators for rangeland assessment at multiple spatial scales. Criteria are broad statements or categories that represent goals of sustainable development. Indicators are attributes that can be directly measured and assessed to detect changes and trends.  The SRR also provides a forum for dialogue on rangeland sustainability.  SRR participants envision a future in which rangelands are sustainably managed to provide a desired mix of benefits. Participants include rangeland scientists and managers, ecologists, sociologists, economists, policy and legal experts, environmental advocates, and industry representatives. Past SRR products are criteria and indicators to assess rangeland sustainability, an integrated concept for systematic evaluation of social, ecological and economic information, an assessment framework for rangelands ecosystem goods and services, and a ranch-level system for inventory and monitoring in the context of a rancher's business plan.  The Oregon Multi-Agency Pilot Project (MAPP) was an initial federal agency effort encouraged by SRR to look at integration of indicator information, using a merge of ecological data from two national monitoring platforms (USDA Forest Service Forest Inventory and Analysis and USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service National Resource Inventory) with socio-economic information from sources like the USDA National Agricultural Statistics Service and the US Census Bureau.  Current and ongoing SRR efforts address energy development on rangelands and associated ecosystem services trade-offs, climate change assessment, sustainable ranch management, socio-economic aspects of public lands ranching, and evaluating sustainable rangelands contributions to food security.  Building on outcomes of the Oregon MAPP to move toward a comprehensive national rangeland sustainability assessment continues to be an important focus.  The most complex piece of each of these projects is effective evaluation and integration of socio-economic information to derive meaningful conclusions.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Orlando, FL