Collaborative adaptive management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: A rangeland living laboratory at the US Sheep Experiment Station

Authors: Wilmer, Hailey; Spiess, Jonathan; Clark, Patrick; ANDERSON, MICHELLE - University Of Montana-Western; BURNS, AMIRA - Orise Fellow; CROOTOF, ARICA - University Of Montana-Western; FANOK, LILY - Orise Fellow; HRUSKA, TRACY - University Of Oulu; MINCHER, BRUCE - Idaho Wild Sheep Foundation; MILLER, RYAN - Animal And Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS); Munger, William; POSBERGH, CHRISTIAN - Montana State University; Wilson, Carrie; WINFORD, ERIC - University Of Idaho; WINDH, JESSICA - University Of Idaho; Strong, Nicole; Eve, Marlen; Taylor, Joshua

Submitted to: Sustainability
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 3/26/2025
Publication Date: 3/31/2025
Citation: Wilmer, H.N., Spiess, J.W., Clark, P., Anderson, M., Burns, A., Crootof, A., Fanok, L., Hruska, T., Mincher, B., Miller, R.S., Munger, W.W., Posbergh, C.J., Wilson, C.S., Winford, E., Windh, J., Strong, N.K., Eve, M.D., Taylor, J.B. 2025. Collaborative adaptive management in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem: A rangeland living laboratory at the US Sheep Experiment Station. Sustainability. 17(7). Article 3086. https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073086.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.3390/su17073086

Interpretive Summary: Rangelands are complex landscapes where ranchers and conservation groups have long debated land use priorities. A new project at the US Sheep Experiment Station, which is in the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem, is working to apply a method called "Collaborative Adaptive Management" to bring different groups together in a coordinated, science-based effort to achieve food system livelihoods, and ecological goals. This paper outlines the methods the team is using to conduct the project, which is called the "Rangeland Collaboratory." The paper outlines steps for baseline assessment, collaborative planning, and a ranch scale experiment addressing both "land sharing" and "land sparing" scenarios for range sheep production. Early insights from the first year of the project highlight the value of collaborative leadership, the use of the experiment station, and trust building.

Technical Abstract: Social conflict over rangeland use priorities, especially near protected areas, has long pitted environmental and biodiversity conservation interests against livestock livelihoods. Social-ecological conflict limits management adaptation and creativity while reinforcing social and disciplinary divisions. It can also reduce rancher access to land and negatively affect wildlife conservation. Communities increasingly expect research organizations to address complex social dynamics to improve opportunities for multiple ecosystem service delivery on rangelands. In the Greater Yellowstone Ecosystem (GYE), an area of the US West, long standing disagreements actors who argue for use of the land for livestock and those who prioritize wildlife are limiting conservation and ranching livelihoods. Researchers at the USDA-ARS US Sheep Experiment Station (USSES) along with University and societal partners are responding to these challenges using a collaborative adaptive management (CAM) methodology. The USSES Rangeland Collaboratory is a living laboratory project leveraging the resources of a federal range sheep research ranch operating across sagebrush steppe ecosystems in Clark County, Idaho, and montane/subalpine landscapes in Beaverhead County, Montana. The project places stakeholders, including ranchers, conservation groups, and government land managers, in the decision-making seat for a participatory case study. This involves adaptive management planning related to grazing and livestock-wildlife management decisions for two, ranch-scale rangeland management scenarios, one modeled after a traditional range sheep operation and the second, a more intensified operation with no use of summer ranges. We discuss the extent to which the CAM approach creates opportunities for multi-directional learning among participants and evaluate trade-offs among preferred management systems through participatory ranch-scale grazing research. In a complex system where the needs and goals of various actors are misaligned across spatiotemporal, disciplinary, and social-ecological scales, CAM creates a structure and methods through which to focus social learning and land management knowledge creation.