Rangeland Ecology & Management

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RANCHER PERCEPTIONS OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES FROM INTERMOUNTAIN WEST RANGELANDS
Author
Brunson, Mark
York, Elisabeth
Publisher
Society for Range Management
Publication Year
2018
Body

Rangelands managed for livestock grazing are expected to provide additional ecosystem services to the public. Ranchers with public land permits are required to consider resources other than forage in their management; often they also do so on their own properties. We studied how ranchers perceive the ecosystem services on lands they manage. Semi-structured interviews conducted in the tri-state region of Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming yielded three principal motivations driving management choices: livestock production, heritage and legacy preservation, and control of one�s own destiny. In addition a list of 19 ecosystem services was derived from discussions with interviewees. These themes and services were then used to guide development of a mail survey administered to a sample of 1,000 Bureau of Land Management permittees whose livestock graze on lands located across the Great Basin. Responses were obtained from 44% of ranchers receiving the survey. Results supported the importance of the three principal management motivations. Forage production, family legacy, and sustainable flows of clean water were the services rated most important. More than 90% of respondents also indicated that demonstrating good stewardship to the public or other ranchers was one of their management objectives. Contrary to previous studies, there was no clear preference for provisioning ecosystem services over other types (regulating, supporting, cultural). Ranchers tended to reporting managing for a larger suite of ecosystem services if they rely upon relatively large information networks for management information, depend upon their livestock operation for more than half of household income, and maintain a herd larger than 300 head. Overall, ranchers are aware of how their operations can affect or enhance ecosystem services, and will manage in ways that can support other services if forage production is not threatened. However, ability to manage for other services is constrained by factors inherent to the ranching operation.

Language
English
Resource Type
Text
Document Type
Conference Proceedings
Conference Name
SRM Reno, NV