Financial barriers and opportunities for conservation adoption on U.S. rangelands: A region-wide, ranch-level economic assessment of NRCS-sponsored Greater Sage-grouse habitat conservation programs

Authors: MAHER, ANNA - University Of Wyoming; QUINTANA-ASHWELL, NICOLAS - Mississippi State University; TANAKA, JOHN - University Of Wyoming; RITTEN, JOHN - University Of Wyoming; MACZKO, KRISTIE - University Of Wyoming

Submitted to: Journal of Environmental Management
Publication Type: Peer Reviewed Journal
Publication Acceptance Date: 9/30/2022
Publication Date: 1/11/2023
Citation: Maher, A.T., Quintana-Ashwell, N., Tanaka, J.A., Ritten, J.P., Maczko, K.A. 2023. Financial barriers and opportunities for conservation adoption on U.S. rangelands: A region-wide, ranch-level economic assessment of NRCS-sponsored Greater Sage-grouse habitat conservation programs. Journal of Environmental Management. 329:11 p. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116420.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116420

Interpretive Summary: Sagebrush areas in the western U.S. are important for both ranching and the survival of the Greater Sage-grouse, a bird that is at risk. To help protect these ecosystems, the federal government uses incentive programs, mainly through cost-sharing, to encourage conservation practices on ranchlands. One key initiative is the Sage-Grouse Initiative (SGI), started by the U.S. Department of Agriculture's Natural Resources Conservation Service in 2010. It focuses on helping ranchers adopt grazing practices that benefit the sage-grouse habitat. This research aimed to assess the economic impact of the SGI on ranches that participate in the program. To do this, researchers created budgets and economic models for ranches in eleven areas where important sage-grouse habitat exists, covering states like Idaho, Montana, and Nevada. The findings showed that financial support from SGI helped ranchers manage the costs of conservation practices. However, smaller ranches often faced more financial challenges compared to larger ones. Generally, bigger ranches benefited more from these programs. Overall, the research highlights the significant role that financial assistance and research play in encouraging ranchers to adopt conservation practices on their lands.

Technical Abstract: Sagebrush ecosystems of the western U.S. support ranching livelihoods and imperiled populations of the Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Incentive-based conservation such as cost-sharing is the primary tool used by the federal government to support conservation practices on rangelands in the U.S. Financial support for adopting specific prescribed grazing practices on private land has been supported through the U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)-led Sage-Grouse Initiative (SGI), initiated in 2010 as an unparalleled private and public effort to conserve Greater Sage-grouse habitat. The purpose of this research was to provide an economic assessment of the impact of this conservation program on participating ranches. Representative ranch enterprise budgets and ranch economic models were created for this analysis for eleven NRCS Major Land Resource Areas where critical sage-grouse habitat exist, including parts of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Washington, and Wyoming. Results of the economic assessment showed that SGI/NRCS financial support alleviated the financial impact of conservation practice adoption, but negative financial impacts were estimated in some locations and more frequently for smaller ranches. Larger ranches were found to do better under these programs on average. Results demonstrate the important role of research and government financial support in removing financial barriers to conservation adoption on rangelands.