We're taking a break this week from the normal release schedule. Come back on April 14 for the first episode in a two-part series on ranch sustainability indicators. You can prepare for that episode by downloading the article at https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rama.2021.08.011. If that link gives you trouble, email me at show@artofrange.com.

New grant, new topics, and April 14 release introduction

Jim O'Rourke and Barbara Hutchinson have been part of the effort to have a United Nations International Year acknowledging the importance of rangelands and the people of rangelands for many years. On March 15, 2022, the UN General Assembly finally approved this proposal. Listen to Jim and Barbara describe why this matters for people who already know and care about rangelands and how you can heighten awareness of the social and ecological importance of rangelands worldwide.


LEARN MORE ABOUT THE IYRP AT THESE LINKS

(Live links are on the episode website at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-81-welcome-2026-intl-year-rangelands-pastoralists) 


Main IYRP website:  https://iyrp.info/

Introduction to the IYRP (Video) - https://youtu.be/zToSadWebwc?list=PLgz33fsrwiVkGSJE-I84wsKL8nOfRPdyU

Pastoralism is the Future (Video) - https://youtu.be/DeqITzac9Ac

Who are pastoralists? (Word Cloud) - https://iyrp.info/who-are-pastoralists

What are rangelands? (Word Cloud) - https://iyrp.info/what-are-rangelands

North American section: https://iyrp.info/north-america

Facebook IYRP Global - https://www.facebook.com/IYRP2026

Facebook IYRP North America - https://www.facebook.com/IYRPNorthAmerica2026/

Twitter IYRP Global - https://twitter.com/IYRP2026

Twitter IYRP North America - https://twitter.com/IYRPNA2026

Instagram IYRP Global - https://www.instagram.com/iyrp2026/

Instagram IYRP North America - https://www.instagram.com/iyrpnorthamerica2026/


TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-81-welcome-2026-intl-year-rangelands-pastoralists

AoR 81: Welcome to the 2026 Int'l Year of Rangelands & Pastoralists!

This episode has the authors of a recent article in the journal Rangeland Ecology & Management tell the story behind their work: Clare Kazanski & Marissa Ahlering (The Nature Conservancy), Patrick Lendrum (World Wildlife Fund), and Sheri Spiegal (Jornada Experimental Range). Sheri was recently honored with the USDA ARS Early Career Scientist of the Year Award. The organizations represented by these and other contributing authors are all involved in evaluating environmental and social success in ranching. Quoting from the article: "There is a need for greater clarity on which indicators are most effective for assessing and monitoring sustainable management and continuous improvement of ranching operations. Our objective was to synthesize existing guidance on monitoring and assessing ranch-scale sustainability in the United States and to identify core ecological, social, and economic indicators that could identify well-managed ranching, support adaptive management, and demonstrate producers’ sustainability and continuous improvement to retailers and consumers. We evaluated 21 range and pastureland assessments from nongovernmental organizations, agencies, and academics that totaled 180 indicators. From this, we selected 20 commonly used “core” indicators (12 ecological and 8 socioeconomic)" that can be used to measure ranch sustainability.

Article link, REM issue 79, open access: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742421001020

https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/provide-food-and-water-sustainably/food-and-water-stories/sustainable-grazing-lands/

Sustainable Southwest Beef Project--Tools for Ranch and Rangeland Resilience. https://southwestbeef.org/

Long-Term Agroecosystem Research program. https://www.ars.usda.gov/natural-resources-and-sustainable-agricultural-systems/water-availability-and-watershed-management/docs/long-term-agroecosystem-research-ltar-network/

TRANSCRIPT at the episode webpage: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-82-synthesis-ranch-level-sustainability-indicators-land-managers-part-1

AoR 82: A Synthesis of Ranch-Level Sustainability Indicators for Land Managers, Part 1

This episode is the second in a two-part series with the authors of a recent article in the journal Rangeland Ecology & Management telling the story behind their work on ranch sustainability: Clare Kazanski & Marissa Ahlering (The Nature Conservancy), Patrick Lendrum (World Wildlife Fund), and Sheri Spiegal (Jornada Experimental Range). Sheri was recently honored with the USDA ARS Early Career Scientist of the Year Award. The organizations represented by these and other contributing authors are all involved in evaluating environmental and social success in ranching. Quoting from the article: "There is a need for greater clarity on which indicators are most effective for assessing and monitoring sustainable management and continuous improvement of ranching operations. Our objective was to synthesize existing guidance on monitoring and assessing ranch-scale sustainability in the United States and to identify core ecological, social, and economic indicators that could identify well-managed ranching, support adaptive management, and demonstrate producers’ sustainability and continuous improvement to retailers and consumers. We evaluated 21 range and pastureland assessments from nongovernmental organizations, agencies, and academics that totaled 180 indicators. From this, we selected 20 commonly used “core” indicators (12 ecological and 8 socioeconomic)" that can be used to measure ranch sustainability.

Article link, REM issue 79, open access: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1550742421001020

https://www.nature.org/en-us/what-we-do/our-priorities/provide-food-and-water-sustainably/food-and-water-stories/sustainable-grazing-lands/

Sustainable Southwest Beef Project--Tools for Ranch and Rangeland Resilience. https://southwestbeef.org/

Long-Term Agroecosystem Research program. https://www.ars.usda.gov/natural-resources-and-sustainable-agricultural-systems/water-availability-and-watershed-management/docs/long-term-agroecosystem-research-ltar-network/

TRANSCRIPT coming soon at the episode webpage: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-83-synthesis-ranch-level-sustainability-indicators-land-managers-part-2

AoR 83: A Synthesis of Ranch-Level Sustainability Indicators for Land Managers, Part 2

Paul Bechtel is an almost-centenarian, born 1923, whose family was lured to Eastern Montana by hopes of homesteading good land still free for the taking. Reality wasn't quite so gentle in the northern Great Plains in the rainshadow of the Rocky Mountains. He lived in Ekelaka in harsh conditions through the Great Depression and until he joined the U.S. Army in 1941, but his best memories of his entire life are from this era. It was a good place to be a free range child. In this episode, co-hosted with Mark Teske, a wildlife biologist, Paul reminisces about eating sage grouse, measuring dirt tanks, and earning creative car payments in a remote agricultural local economy. 

TRANSCRIPT AND PHOTO available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-84-perspectives-memoirs-habitat-and-homesteading-eastern-montana-paul-bechtel. 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
The book Paul refers to by an author who lived in Seattle for a time is "Bad Land: An American Romance", by Jonathan Raban, ISBN 0679759069.

Homestead Act originally offered 160 acres, https://www.archives.gov/milestone-documents/homestead-act

https://www.history.com/topics/american-civil-war/homestead-act

AoR 84: Perspectives: Memoirs of Habitat and Homesteading in Eastern Montana, with Paul Bechtel

Americans hear news of social conflict and small-scale warfare in Africa and we ignore the news because it's far away and doesn't affect us. It's also not possible to meaningfully engage emotionally with everything bad happening around the globe. But there are real people and animals in Cameroon whose lives are disrupted, and because pastoralists are often politically marginalized it's important to tell their stories. This interview touches on the geography of West-central Africa, the lifestyle of Shuwa pastoralists, and the ecology behind the transhumance grazing movements. 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
Thousands of pastoralists seek refuge in Waza National Park, Cameroon: https://pfbc-cbfp.org/news-partner/THECONVERSATION-PaulScholte-Waza.html
Other papers are referenced at the episode page listed below.

TRANSCRIPT COMING SOON AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-85-pastoralists-displaced-cameroon-africa-mark-moritz-paul-scholte.

AoR 85: Pastoralists Displaced in Cameroon, Africa -- Mark Moritz & Paul Scholte

Many ranchers don't do it for the money, but one cannot ranch for long only losing money. In this first episode in a grant-funded series on ranch financial resiliency, Jack Southworth discusses principles and common problems in ranch money management with James Rogers and Clay Worden. Stay tuned for more.

TRANSCRIPT available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-86-intro-ranch-financial-resiliency-jack-southworth-james-rogers-clay-worden.

AoR 86: Intro to Ranch Financial Resiliency--Jack Southworth, James Rogers, & Clay Worden

Financial resiliency requires knowing and tracking costs of production and comparing the costs and revenues of a specific enterprise against other possible enterprises. In this second episode with Jack Southworth, James Rogers, and Clay Worden, they discuss the many ways every ranch's context is different from another's, highlighting the importance of spending some time working on the business and not just in the business. 

RESOURCES MENTIONED ON THE SHOW are available at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-87-intro-ranch-finance-part-2-jack-southworth-james-rogers-clay-worden


TRANSCRIPT AVAILABLE SOON AT https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-87-intro-ranch-finance-part-2-jack-southworth-james-rogers-clay-worden

AoR 87: Intro to Ranch Finance, Part 2--Jack Southworth, James Rogers, & Clay Worden

The summer of 2022 is nearly in the books, as they say, but range managers and graziers should pay attention to increasingly sophisticated tools to characterize both forage yield and fire risk in order to respond to annual and seasonal anomalies in forage quantity and type proactively. Listen to an update on 2022 conditions and a description of Fuelcast.net, a decision support platform that everyone should have in their range management toolbox.

TRANSCRIPT coming soon at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-88-forage-fuel-fire-forecasts-matt-reeves 

RESOURCES MENTIONED IN THIS EPISODE
https://www.fuelcast.net/
Crop Condition and Soil Moisture Analytics: https://nassgeo.csiss.gmu.edu/CropCASMA/

AoR 88: Forage, Fuel, & Fire Forecasts with Matt Reeves

The Art of Range is a podcast about rangelands for people who manage rangelands.  Our goal is education and conservation through conversation.  Find us online at www.artofrange.com.

AoR 82: A Synthesis of Ranch-Level Sustainability Indicators for Land Managers, Part 1

Art of Range

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