Article
Influence of Ecosystem Services on Management Decisions by Public Land Ranchers in the Intermountain West, United States
Rangeland Ecology & Management
(2019)
Abstract
Ecosystem services are benefits humans obtain as a result of ecosystem processes and conditions. In the western United States, public rangelands are managed for a spectrum of ecosystem services on behalf of multiple stakeholders. Decisions of ranchers who hold public landgrazing allotments must balance operational needs for forage with societal expectations for other ecosystem services. To better understand their choices regarding ecosystem services, we interviewed ranchers to learn about the bases for their management decisions and identify services they believe rangelands provide. A total of 19 services were identified, many of which reflected ranchers’ recognition that they manage within the context of a broader social-ecological system (e.g., maintaining open space). We then conducted a mail survey of Bureau of Land Management grazing permittees in six states to understand the importance they personally place on different services, as well as the extent to which they manage with those services in mind. Fourteen of the 19 ecosystem services identified in interviews were reported by at least 50% of the survey sample (N = 435) as influencing their management decisions. Most respondents reported trying to manage deeded and leased land to the same standard. Aside from forage for livestock (ranked #1), ranchers were less likely to report managing for provisioning services than for cultural, supporting, and regulating services.
Disciplines
Publication Date
2019
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2019.02.002
Citation Information
Mark W. Brunson. "Influence of Ecosystem Services on Management Decisions by Public Land Ranchers in the Intermountain West, United States" Rangeland Ecology & Management Vol. 72 Iss. 4 (2019) p. 721 - 728 Available at: http://works.bepress.com/mark_brunson/208/