W1192: Economic, Social, and Ecological Issues of Rangeland Fragmentation that Affect Rangeland Sustainability and Rural Communities
Statement of Issues and Justification
Roughly half of the West is public land. And that means the other half is private. At this scale, outside of the big cities, it is nearly impossible to distinguish which is which, though you can make some informed guesses: The private lands are the valley bottoms, along rivers and streams, where water is plentiful, not too high up in the mountains, and not too low down in the deserts. In short, a lot of the best, most productive land in the West. And if suddenly the private lands were, say, highlighted in red, a lot of your hunches would be dramatically confirmed. The private lands would look something like the veins and arteries in the living body of the West, largely following the branching structure of watersheds. (Christenson 2004)The management of public and private rangelands deeply divides rural communities affected by land management policies. Changing land management to accommodate new information means changing the allocation of economic resources regionally and locally and the alteration of the social and cultural importance of these lands to local communities. The redirection of resources away from traditional uses has stimulated significant controversy. Often labeled as wicked problems (Allen and Gould 1986; Patterson and Williams 1998), these types of controversies arise from complex conflicts between multiple stakeholders for which no easy or simple solutions emerge. Thus, the questions of direct and indirect economic and social impacts to resource users, households, employment and earnings in rural communities, and revenues and costs for state and local governments are of key concern, especially to the citizens of rural communities in public land states. The interaction of public and private lands is of vital importance in understanding the functioning and sustainability of Western rural communities. Social values and the very human fabric of Western communities are changing as the direction of land management changes and as private lands continue to experience increasing rates of subdivision that affect greater portions of the western landscape. This transformation is augmented by rapid growth in many areas of the Intermountain West, Pacific Northwest, Southwest, and Great Basin regions, however, the rates of growth and subsequent effects remain unevenly distributed (Drabenstott 2001). Questions of direct and indirect social impacts to resource users, households, employers, local governments, and others remain of key concern to local, state, and national policy makers.
The goal of this project is to evaluate the effects of an emerging trend, land ownership fragmentation, on rangeland economic, social, and ecological sustainability at the firm, community, and landscape scales. Information about the amount and types of rangeland ownership fragmentation will be gathered and coordinated for the western United States. In order to better understand the process of land fragmentation, the motives and practices of new types and patterns of rangeland purchasers will be identified and assessed. The legal framework and contexts for mitigating rangeland fragmentation impacts to ecosystems and communities will be explored. As the project proceeds, we will evaluate the impact of land fragmentation on specific ecological, economic, and social factors, and create a conceptual model of the linkages among these factors. Alternate scenarios for examining the outcome of differing policies and socioeconomic influences on long term rangeland sustainability will be developed and used to inform decision-makers and for policy recommendations.
Failure to address these issues could decrease the sustainability of many agricultural operations and rural communities in the West. It could also reduce the management capabilities of public land management agencies as a result of conversion and fragmentation of surrounding private lands. Also, it could potentially result in the loss of highly valued ecosystems in many part of the West. Overall, these issues could have serious implications for the quality of life in the region.
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