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Management of encroaching woody species in the rangeland discipline has historically centered around reactive intervention strategies involving mechanical or chemical treatments that seek to reduce the abundance of woody plants after they become established. Yet, such reactive  approaches have not solved the woody encroachment problem, and grass-dominated ecosystems around the world continue to be displaced by woody plant species.  As a result, many valued ecosystem services in rangelands have been depleted, indicating the clear need to integrate preventative intervention techniques with reactive ones. Here, I provide an overview of an integrated intervention approach for the management of woody plants in rangelands and discuss new preventative and reactive approaches to woody plant management that have emerged in recent years. I compare the ecological effectiveness of these techniques to more conventional woody plant management practices, and discuss the suite of political and economic factors constraining their application.