The project aims to achieve several impactful outcomes, including: 

• Enhancing land management practices by completing new Habitat Management Plans (HMPs) covering at least 36,000 acres of grazing land. 

• Designing restoration projects for implementation on 1,500 acres. 

• Providing one-on-one technical assistance to participating landowners in the ACR program, helping them identify and access Farm Bill programs such as Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP), and state initiatives like the Healthy Soils Program to achieve their operational goals. 

• Engaging community members, ranchers, students, tribal members, and technical assistance providers through workshops, outreach, and partnerships. 

• Increasing staff capacity by hiring five new positions and sustaining five current roles including offering three 9-month internships focusing on communications, community engagement, bird conservation on private land, and rangeland ecology and management. 

Restoring Critical Habitats 

This award will enable Audubon California and Washington to work hand-in-hand with ranchers, whose stewardship of the land is integral to restoring vital habitats such as grasslands, oak savanna, chaparral, and shrub steppe, supporting species like the Southwestern Willow Flycatcher, the endangered Greater Sage-Grouse, and the Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse. By restoring grazing lands to diverse native habitats, landowners can create landscapes that support healthy bird populations.  Additionally, by encouraging the removal of invasive species and planting habitat-enriching native species that are adapted to a changing climate, we can increase plant diversity and cover, help build soil organic matter, increase water infiltration, and improve soil carbon sequestration. This will increase the role of rangelands in climate change mitigation, adaptation, and resilience. Scientific analysis of these efforts has shown them to benefit bird populations, with an estimated 8.5% annual increase in rangeland and arid land bird community health on enrolled ranches since 2017, as measured by the Bird-Friendliness Index (BFI), a conservation impact evaluation metric developed specifically for ACR by Audubon’s Science team. 

Building Awareness and Community Engagement 

Outreach and engagement play a pivotal role in these efforts. In the Columbia Plateau, Audubon Washington Field Technician will focus on raising awareness of the ACR program, aimed at connecting with landowners, community members, and agencies. In California staff will collaborate with local partners to promote the benefits of responsible grazing land management and the overall importance of grazing lands in the state. Through workshops, outreach events, and partnerships, Audubon will share best rangeland management practices that enhance habitats, inspire collective action, and cultivate a shared responsibility for the health and resilience of the Columbia Plateau and California’s ecosystems. 

This grant will help grow the ACR program, strengthening its impact on both wildlife and the livelihoods of ranchers along the West Coast. 

Why Conservation Ranching?  

Rangeland and arid land bird species are the most imperiled group of birds in the United States, with populations declining by 53% since 1970. Over the past decade, the ACR program has grown to address this urgent crisis, expanding into 15 states and designating nearly 3 million acres as Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly Land. The program partners with landowners to promote planned grazing regimes that incorporate extended rest and recovery periods, mimicking the natural disturbance patterns of historic ecosystems to create vital habitat mosaics for birds. Additionally, the program encourages ranchers to reduce disturbance to nesting birds by preventing disruptive activities, such as haying during the nesting season, and planning special protections for priority bird habitats. 

Ranching, one of the few economically viable agricultural endeavors on rangelands, is a critical component of protecting open rangelands across the Western states, where land conversion to development or intensive crop agriculture is an increasing threat. By supporting ranchers with technical assistance and connecting them to ecosystem service markets through our certification program, we are helping ensure these ranchers can remain in business and more effectively steward the critical habitats they manage.