Both sides now: Forging links between grassland conservation on protected areas and private lands

Background/Question/Methods

Scientists have called repeatedly for a broader conservation agenda that emphasizes not only protected areas but also the landscapes in which they are embedded. In response, we developed a conceptual model to guide the integration of conservation actions on reserves and private lands. Economic and conservation goals are viewed as intertwined and mutually reinforcing. Reserves assume a new role as natural laboratories where alternative land-use practices can be explored. At the heart of the model is a transfer of conservation practices from reserves to the properties of a small number of key landowners, ultimately followed by a transfer of practices from these properties and reserves to the broader community. Successful implementation should ultimately result in broad-scale restoration that improves a region’s capacity to conserve biodiversity and to support landowner goals, thus increasing the resilience of the overarching social-ecological system. In 2010, we began to implement the model in the Grand River Grasslands of southern Iowa and northern Missouri, U.S.A. Here, a salient threat to grass-based enterprises, including biodiversity conservation, is the encroachment of woody vegetation. Mitigating this threat will require the use of prescribed fire, a management tool that is rarely used on private lands in the region.     

Results/Conclusions

Through a series of surveys, interviews, and field days on reserves, we have engaged a group of key landowners. Members of this group have since attended a prescribed fire workshop and participated in prescribed burns on several of their properties. Among this group, there has been a growing awareness of threats to grassland biodiversity and to grassland enterprises generally, as well as strategies for effectively mitigating these threats. Generally, however, landowners in the region do not perceive their properties as parts of a larger whole, resulting in the lack of a collective vision for managing the grassland ecosystem. Consequently, the magnitude of the threat posed by the rapid encroachment of invasive woody plants is not widely appreciated. Rather, this phenomenon tends to be viewed as a nuisance that landowners will address on their individual properties as necessary. Prescribed fire is generally viewed as a legitimate land-management tool, yet perceived risks associated with this practice tend to outweigh the eventual loss of forage and grassland habitats. These perceptions and beliefs create a tension between successful transfer of conservation practices to private lands and a widespread state shift in the region from grasslands to woodlands.