A Society for Range Management Task Force Report

Rangelands provide many ecosystem services and associated benefits (e.g., livestock
production, wildlife habitat, plant diversity, and water infiltration) which benefit society. Although the presence and actions of rangeland managers, producers,
and other stakeholders support many of these services, rangeland stakeholders only receive direct benefits for a small subset of services. The Society for Range Management (SRM) works closely with rangeland stakeholders of all types and advances science and policy related to the sustainable, productive management of rangelands as complex social-ecological systems. In this report, our objectives are to:

• Outline several of the ecosystem services that we consider most central to rangelands, including who benefits from the service and what factors currently threaten the service;
• Discuss ways in which rangeland stewardship helps support the services;
• Outline current opportunities for rangeland stakeholders to gain direct benefits from actions taken to support the services; and
• Describe ways in which SRM could engage in this process.