Ranchers’ and Federal Land Managers’ Mental Models of Rangeland Management Across an Environmental Gradient

Managing rangelands to meet social-ecological goals requires monitoring ecological indicators to inform management responses. These goals and monitoring objectives are grounded in land managers’ understandings, or mental models, of the rangeland system. Rangeland managers’ mental models are often highly place-specific, which can enable management actions to be matched to local conditions. In the western United States, ranchers and federal agency personnel, like those in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), are two of the primary social groups involved in rangeland management. We compared ranchers’ and BLM personnel's rangeland mental models across two regions. We conducted semi-structured interviews about their management goals and objectives, as well as their perspectives on important rangeland system dynamics and the constraints inhibiting them from reaching their goals. We used a mixed-methods approach, including network analysis metrics, to elucidate similarities and differences in their mental models and in the ecological indicators they use to assess rangeland health and to trigger management actions. We found that their goals differed more between social groups, whereas specific management objectives differed more between geographic regions and reflected local priorities, such as invasive species and wildfire risk. Ranchers’ and agency personnel's mental models indicated divergent perspectives on the seasonal impacts of livestock on soils and vegetation and about grazing as either a disturbance to be mitigated or as a tool to maintain critical ecosystem processes. These findings indicate that ranchers and agency personnel have place-specific knowledge, but that their mental models are more similar to others in their social group than to those outside their social group in the same region. Differences in their conceptions of rangeland management suggest areas for increased communication between ranchers and agency personnel, which could in turn promote mutual understanding and collaboration toward shared objectives, thereby helping both groups overcome constraints to reach their management goals.