Co-developing criteria for white bark pine friendly ranching

Commodities

• Additional Plants: native plants
• Animals: bovine, sheep

Practices

• Animal Production: rangeland/pasture management
• Education and Training: participatory research
• Natural Resources/Environment: habitat enhancement

In Idaho and Montana, many public
lands cattle and sheep ranchers are interdependent with forested
public lands. Because social support for ranching on public lands
is declining, and conservation concerns for biodiversity is
increasing, ranchers need science-based grazing guidelines to
improve and get credit for their land stewardship, especially
where grazing occurs on lands home to the threatened whitebark
pine tree. We propose to develop and deploy a prototype
“Whitebark Pine Friendly Ranching  Certification”, following
the success of a similar protocol for ski resorts in the region.
Using two mountain ranges as test cases, our research questions
center on 1) mapping: where do whitebark pine exist near
livestock? 2) ecological assessment and monitoring: indicators of
tree mortality, canopy structure, understory vegetation
composition, livestock presence, and wildlife presence?  3)
livestock grazing: how does sheep grazing impact whitebark pine
seedlings? 4) local ecological knowledge: manager observations of
ecology, grazing, and social change.  We will develop the
project with ranchers, scientists, students, conservation groups
and land managers in multiple meetings, and conduct an immersive
backcountry tour of whitebark/grazing interactions. We will also
develop a curriculum and internship program at University of
Montana-Western. By braiding local and scientific knowledge into
online outreach products and the Certification, we expect
outcomes such as: 1) improvement and recognition of ranching
practices that enhance forest conservation; 2) increased social
support for ranching on public lands; 3) new relationships, and
increased trust, and respect among different stakeholders; 4)
improved sustainability of ranching enterprises.

The goal of this project is to
advance sustainable grazing practices in high-elevation mountain
ecosystems by improving the science on how grazing interacts with
a threatened tree species, the whitebark pine
(Pinus
albicaulis). This
project addresses rangeland-based sheep and cattle production, as
well as backcountry outfitting agricultural businesses.
Specifically, producers, researchers, and students will
collaborate to conduct forest mapping and monitoring, a grazing
experiment, and oral history interviews that will feed into the
development of a prototype “White Bark Pine Friendly Ranching”
certification protocol. Working in Montana and Idaho, our team
will co-develop and deliver the research findings to ranchers,
conservation groups, managers, and students through a novel
outreach and education program that involves online and in-person
training activities led by the University of Montana-Western. The
specific project objectives are:

Research Objective 1: Map
whitebark and grazing interactions in existing grazing allotments
Centennial and Gravelly Mountains.

Research Objective 2: Assess current ecological conditions and
develop a long-term monitoring study in areas where grazing and
whitebark pine have historically overlapped in the Centennial
(Idaho) and Gravelly Mountains (Montana).

Research Objective 3: Quantify the capacity of sheep grazing to
promote the conditions for whitebark establishment.

Research Objective 4: Document local knowledge ecological change in
the grazing allotments. Use interviews and oral histories with
ranchers, herders, range riders, outfitters, and other land users
(n>15) to document: land use, changes in forest and watershed
conditions, grazing cultures, and emergent
challenges. 

Research Objective 5: Develop a prototype “whitebark pine friendly
ranching certification”.

Education Objective 1: Increase awareness and adoption of whitebark
pine friendly grazing practices among agricultural
producers.

Education Objective 2: Create a new learning community that builds
trust and supports co-development of scientific and local
knowledge of sustainable ranching practices in whitebark pine
habitat.

Education Objective 3: Broaden participation, build research
capacity, and train a new generation of rangeland scientists in
sustainable agricultural research and education.