Rangelands include a diverse suite of vegetation types such as Sonoran desert, pinyon-juniper shrublands, grasslands, and shrub steppe. In general, rangelands are areas where the natural vegetation is comprised principally of grasses, forbs, grass-like plants, and shrubs suitable for browsing or grazing. Of the approximately 660 million acres of rangelands in the conterminous U.S., 39 percent (about 260 million acres) are federally managed, with about 48 million acres under Forest Service management.

Regardless of ownership, rangelands provide a large portion of the forage for both domestic and native ungulates while supporting a wide variety of iconic species such as sage-grouse. Rangelands are part of the identity of rural western communities, providing a myriad of benefits to all Americans from spiritual renewal and recreation opportunity to clean air and water, wildlife habitat, food, and economic security.

Much of the Forest Service’s research on rangelands takes place at the Rocky Mountain and Pacific Northwest Research Stations. This research includes a highly diverse portfolio with emphasis on maintaining resilient ecosystems, developing tools and technologies, and projecting resource conditions and supplies in the future against the backdrop of climate change.

We invest in rangeland research because:

• The Forest Service manages about 9200 grazing allotments critical for the economic well-being of hundreds of communities. The partnerships between private land owners and land managers are key components of conservation, so research aimed at fostering these relationships is critical.

• Rangeland areas are critical to mitigating the impacts of climate change. Globally rangelands contain 50 percent more organic carbon in soils than forests. Small changes in management can result in large changes in carbon emissions.

• There are about 100 million ungulates across the U.S., many of which spend all or a portion of their lives on rangelands that are often federally owned.

• Law and policy dictate that federal lands management, including rangelands, is guided by high-quality science and information. The Resources Planning Act of 1974 requires decadal assessment of rangeland conditions accompanied by projections of future supply and demand of key resources.

Featured Work

Effects of Drought on Forests and Rangelands in the United States: A Comprehensive Science Synthesis provides input to the reauthorized National Integrated Drought Information System (NIDIS) and the National Climate Assessment (NCA), and it establishes the scientific foundation needed to manage for drought resilience and adaptation.

Effects of drought on forests and rangelands in the United States: translating science into management responses provides region-specific management options for increasing resilience to drought for Alaska and Pacific Northwest, California, Hawai‘i and U.S.-Affiliated Pacific Islands, Interior West, Great Plains, Northeast and Midwest, and Southeast.

The Rangeland Technology Summit unveils and explains 40 technologies that are ready for managers to use.