Establishing the Wyoming Rangeland Management Institute

In Wyoming, 84% of the state is classified as rangelands which includes the deserts, grasslands, shrublands, forests, foothills and mountains.  These rangelands support the state's beef cattle and sheep industry for a total value exceeding $2 Billion (2016 Wyoming Agricultural Statistics).  These rangelands are not only important for livestock but also support wildlife and plant diversity that is recognized globally, including the largest state-level populations of pronghorn antelope and sage-grouse and critical landscape-scale habitat for large carnivore conservation.  Wyoming is approximately half federally owned, and thus grazing on public allotments is critical to sustaining range livestock production and rural livelihoods.  Basic rangeland education, litigation concerning environmental issues, and new strategies in the context of contemporary challenges is threatening the sustainability of the use of Wyoming rangelands for livestock agriculture, specifically as they surround water, endangered species, animal distribution, and continued pressure to eliminate public land grazing.  Recent University of Wyoming Extension needs assessments for rangeland stakeholders, including local, county, state, and federal users, indicated that difficulty in balancing multiple uses, education on the basics of rangeland ecology, pro-active rangeland management, and collaboration are persistent needs that the University of Wyoming Extension should address.  This proposal seeks to develop the Wyoming ‘Range Management Institute’ to provide baseline rangeland ecology and management education that is then placed in the context of contemporary challenges threatening the sustainability of livestock agriculture on Wyoming rangelands.  This educational effort will use diverse educational delivery techniques (in-person workshop, distance delivery through webinars, and online curriculum) that are provided by an interdisciplinary and collaborative instruction team (including University, state agency, federal agency, and private rancher and legal experts).  We will also enhance the state-wide network of applied demonstrations and begin to build Extension “Hot Shot” teams to address emerging issues.