Developing a valuation framework for rangeland conservation investments and ecosystem services

In recent years, federal policies and executive level guidance have directed agencies to determine ways to estimate the dollar value of ecosystem services. Integrating the economic value of nature into conservation planning and range management could result in (1) more informed decisions about resource allocation, (2) unique strategies to balance agricultural productivity and ecosystem health, (3) accounting for intangible benefits derived from sound conservation decisions, and (4) establishment of policies that integrate benefit-driven conservation actions with payment incentives. Full consideration of ecosystem services in conservation planning and policy decision-making is often limited by the lack of comprehensive, rigorous empirical information regarding the potential economic value of the services provided, as well as a lack of inventory and monitoring data related to conservation practice outcomes. To address this gap, we assessed the impacts of conservation practices on 13 ecosystem services provided by rangelands and the economic value of the change in these services. Using benefit transfer techniques, we relied on available federal conservation practice and statistical inventory data, peer-reviewed research, and published nonmarket ecosystem service values to estimate the public benefits of three common conservation practices in the “Western Range and Irrigated” Land Resource Region. In total, we conservatively estimate that Prescribed Grazing, Brush Management, and Herbaceous Weed Treatment practices provide ecosystem service cobenefits valued at between US$8 million and US$21 million per year on nonfederal rangelands and between US$6 million and US$9 million per year on Bureau of Land Management-managed rangelands. Linking conservation practices to changes in ecosystem service values offers federal agencies a compelling way to communicate conservation successes and accomplishments to the American public, especially to the farmers and ranchers who voluntarily implement these practices.