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The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) recognizes the unique contributions rangeland resources make to the nation’s wellbeing. To communicate the importance of these commodity and amenity values, SRR participants developed this primer on rangeland ecosystem goods and services. It summarizes the history of the nation’s relationship with and reliance upon rangeland resources, as well as the evolution of SRR’s contribution to current concepts about advancing rangeland stewardship and conservation. We discuss not only extractable goods derived from rangelands, but both tangible and intangible rangeland ecosystem services and the core ecosystem processes that underlie these goods and services. One section outlines an applied evaluation method suitable for use by ranchers, technical service providers and other private and public land managers who seek to identify and consider the income potential of rangeland ecosystem goods and services provided by their lands. We use a hypothetical ranching operation in Montana to highlight relevant questions and conversations between a rancher and a conservation technical service provider to determine such potential. Thinking more broadly, we present a conceptual framework developed by SRR to illustrate integration of social, economic and ecological elements of rangeland sustainability via a bridge built upon the rangeland goods ands services that society values. The Texas Leon River Restoration Project illustrates the utility of SRR’s model for successfully addressing multiple desired uses associated with traditional ranching operations, national security military uses and critical species habitat requirements.