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Rangelands and associated civilizations rely on conservation and maintenance of soil and water resources to maintain 
themselves over time.  The Sustainable Rangelands Roundtable (SRR) has explicitly included conservation and 
maintenance of soil and water resources as a criterion  under which indicators can be identified and by  which 
sustainability can be assessed.  To this point, 14 indicators - seven soil-based, six water-based, and one soil and 
water-based - have been identified by the Soil and Water Resources Criterion Group.  Soil erosion from water and 
wind, soil organic matter, soil compaction, soil aggregate stability, bare ground, and soil food web structure are the 
current focus of soil-based indicators.  Biodiversity of aquatic organisms, water quality, stream channel geometry, 
wetland geographic extent, and duration of flow in rangeland intermittent streams are the current focus of water-based
indicators. Regarding several of these indicators, several challenging questions remain to be answered.  For example, 
can an indicator detected over a small geographic portion  of  rangelands be a credible indicator for rangeland 
sustainability at the national level?  The Soil and Water Resources Criterion Group has used the Collaborative Delphi 
to solicit interdisciplinary feedback from SRR members to these challenging questions.  The identification and eventual 
quantification of rangeland indicators related to soil and water might provide an approximation of status of rangeland 
sustainability for our Nation.