Policy Opportunities for Western Working Lands in the next Congress and Federal Administration
2025-01-28 12:00 - 13:00 (America/Denver) | TX
Join WLA’s new Chief Policy Officer, Traci Bruckner, and WLA CEO Lesli Allison for a special live, members-only event to learn about the many ways we can advance policies that support vibrant rural communities and thriving working lands and wildlife. There are major opportunities before us that WLA is poised to seize. Come find out how you can help!
By signing up you are joining the Western Landowners Alliance. Membership is free, and vital to the growing movement for private land stewardship!

Range Rider Training
2025-01-30 08:00 - 17:00 | Morgridge Commons Meeting and Conference Center, 815 Cooper Ave 2nd Floor, Glenwood Springs, CO, 81601, United States
Range Riding Short Course Training Curriculum
We’ve designed this short course format for individuals looking to enhance their skills and understanding of range riding and reducing wolf interactions.
January 30, 2025
8 am to 5 pm
Morgridge Commons Meeting and Conference Center
815 Cooper Ave 2nd floor, Glenwood Springs, CO 81601
Session 1: Opening Remarks and Panel Introductions
8:00 am
Session 2: What is Range Riding? Best practices and their applications across various operational contexts.
8:45 am
Rae Nickerson, PhD Candidate, Utah State University

What is range riding and defining effectiveness (needed skills)
The importance of context and operational considerations
Risk evaluation
Supporting tools
Communication and conflict mitigation
Panel discussion

10:30 am: Break – 15 minutes
Session 3: Range Riding and Livestock Handling
10:45 am
Amber Mason, Ruby Dell Ranch

Riding the herd vs riding the predators
Stockmanship
Identifying and responding to problems
Stockmanship and rider safety
Panel discussion

12:30 – 1:30 pm: Lunch
Session 4: “Stewards of the Working Wild”: Regional Conservation Partnership Program Contracting and Collaboration
1:30 pm
Matthew Collins, Western Landowners Alliance
Session 5 Colorado Parks and Wildlife
2:00 pm

Wildlife Tracks and Signs
Hazing/Permitting
Effective injurious and non-injurious hazing tools.
How to order nonlethal materials like cracker shells and rubber buckshot.
Reporting requirements.
What to do when suspected depredation is found – pictures, scene containment, who to call, etc.

3:30 pm: Break – 15 mins
Session 6 Optimizing Camera Deployment
3:45 pm

Camera Deployment
Data management expectations and landing place

5:00 pm – Conclude
Trainers and Panelists
Rae Nickerson rae.nickerson@usu.edu
Rae Nickerson is a PhD student at Utah State University evaluating the effectiveness of range riding on fifteen ranches across five western states. She has a decade of experience working on wolf-livestock conflict with producers through her work agencies, graduate collaborations, and as a partner with Western Landowners Alliance. She’s trained in low-stress livestock handling/range riding and conflict facilitation/mitigation.
Amber Mason amber.mason1458@gmail.com
Amber Mason has been a livestock producer in the Centennial Valley for over twenty years. She has extensive experience in range riding for wolves and grizzly bears and specializes in stockmanship and range riding.
Sisto Hernandez shernandez@westernlandowners.org
Sisto Hernandez is the New Mexico Resources Coordinator for Western Landowners Alliance and a member of the White Mountain Apache Tribe. He comes from a ranching heritage on both sides of his family. Sisto has extensive experience managing range riding programs, has represented his Tribe, served as president of the Mexican Wolf/Livestock Council for Arizona and New Mexico, and is vice president of the Grasshopper Livestock Association.
Kim Kerns kimberleekerns@gmail.com
Kim Kerns is a fourth-generation sheep and cattle rancher in Northeast Oregon who has been operating with wolves for over fifteen years. Kim has extensive experience in range riding, working with livestock guardian dogs, applying deterrents, and utilizing fencing practices to protect livestock from carnivores. Sharing her stewardship knowledge, Kerns has hosted training sessions for producers in Oregon and state agencies around the West.

Wyoming Virtual Fence Symposium - Harnessing Virtual Fencing: Insights from Producers, Vendors, and Researchers
2025-01-30 09:30 - 16:30 | Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Kuiper Pavilion, 720 Sheridan Ave, Cody, WY, 82414, United States
East Yellowstone Collaborative (EYC) invites you to the Wyoming Virtual Fence Symposium – Harnessing Virtual Fencing: Insights from Producers, Vendors, and Researchers

Learn about the latest virtual fence technology from vendors, hear the experiences of landowners that have used virtual fence, and discover partnership and funding opportunities to utilize virtual fence on your own property. Connect with friends, partners, good food, and conversation!
PANELS INCLUDE:
10:00-11:00 am
Vendors & Product Overviews: What is virtual fencing & how does it work?
● Vence/Merck – McCaulley Cunningham & John Abizaid ● Halter – TBD ● eShepherd/Gallagher – Sharl Liebergreen & Jacey Ellsworth 11:30am – 12:30 pm Producer Experiences: Tales from the range
● Daniel Lickteig – Oregon rancher ● Holly Stoltz – Montana Rancher ● Shari Meeks – Sublette County Conservation District ● Toby & Trish Kimzey – Wyoming Rancher 12:30-1:15- Lunch
1:15-2:15 pm-
Researchers: Application and benefits of virtual fence● Joel Yelich & Melinda Ellison – University of Idaho ● Tony Vorster – Colorado State University ● Jamie Brennan – South Dakota State University
2:30-3:3pmPartnerships & Economics: How to fund your virtual fence
● Shari Meeks – Sublette County Conservation District ● Travis Brammer – Property and Environment Research Center ● John Hartung – Natural Resource Conservation Service ● Ford Smith – Kateri Carbon What: Wyoming Virtual Fence Symposium – Harnessing Virtual Fencing: Insights from Producers, Vendors, and ResearchersWhen: January 30, 2025, 9:30AM-4:30 PM, light breakfast fare and free lunch providedfor all registered participantsWhere: Buffalo Bill Center of the West, Kuyper PavilionWho: Park County landowners, managers, and select partnersWhy: To learn more about the role virtual fence could play in your operation.RSVP: We need a head count by Today, January 20th, please and thank you! Working with private landowners and partners along the Absaroka Front, East Yellowstone Collaborative was formed to enhance the economic viability of working lands and their important role in wildlife conservation. EYC is committed to finding conservation solutions that work for both landowners and the community. Participants include Park County Open Lands, Western Landowners Alliance, Greater Yellowstone Coalition, Trout Unlimited, The Nature Conservancy, Beyond Yellowstone Living Lab, and LegacyWorks Group as facilitators.
Register Here

Elemental Idaho Series
2025-01-30 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-02-06 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-02-13 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-02-20 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-02-27 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-03-06 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-03-13 16:30 - 18:30, 2025-03-20 16:30 - 18:30 and 4 more dates | Boise Brewing, 521 W Broad St, Boise, ID, 83702
EARTH
Dr. Emily Wakild (BSU’s Andrus Center) discusses the history and
future of Idaho recreation with Gretchen Hyde (Idaho Rangeland
Resources Commission), and John Robison (Idaho Conservation League).
We’ll learn about the Ridge to Rivers trail system,
the Owyhee Travel Management Plan,
and everything in between!

4:30-5:00 PM -: Socialize
5:00 – 6:00 PM: Presentation & Discussion
6:00 – 6:30 PM: Socialize & Live Music
$10 each week
Registration includes one ticket for the IEF beer and an IEF koozie.

2025 Southern Rocky Mountain Ag Conference
2025-02-04 - 2025-02-06 | Ski Hi Park Complex, 2335 Sherman Ave, Monte Vista, CO, 81144, United States
The theme for the 2025 Southern Rocky Mountain Ag Conference is “Holding Our Ground – Securing the Future of Our Water, Land, Businesses, and Families.”
February 4-6, 2025
Ski Hi Park Complex, Monte Vista, CO
Registration now open!

Beneath Our Feet: Are groundwater easements a solution for the west?
2025-02-12 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
The second webinar of WLA’s 2025 Water and Working Lands Webinar series will explore the topic of groundwater easements as a potential solution for addressing groundwater shortages. We’ll hear how these programs have been designed, implemented, and received by select communities, and if groundwater easements really can become an effective tool in combating water scarcity across the West.
Join us to learn more about the current status and future of groundwater easements from our panel of policymakers, advocates, and other experts who are learning from existing programs and exploring how groundwater easements could play a role in combatting drought and the western water crisis.
REGISTER HERE

Working Hands, Wild Lands - Mini documentary film festival
2025-02-12 18:30 - 21:00 | Patagonia Denver, 2600 Walnut St, Denver, CO, 80205, United States
Join Western Landowners Alliance for an in-person conservation-minded documentary film festival at Patagonia Denver! We will be highlighting three films:

Against the Herd

Almost a century of poorly managed grazing degraded millions of acres of America’s public lands. But Cottonwood Ranch has discovered that cattle can actually be the key to restoring our rangelands.
Now the Smith family must convince legislators and agencies that cows aren’t always eco-villains, or they’re sure to lose their land.

Grizzlies and Grazing

Grizzlies and Grazing is a film that explores how the fate of these iconic landscapes and their inhabitants hangs in a delicate balance, where the survival of both grizzlies and ranchers are deeply intertwined

The Fish and the Flame

This award-winning short film shows how Tim Haarmann, ranch manager at Banded Peak Ranch, and Jim White, a biologist with Colorado Parks and Wildlife, teamed up to save one of the last remaining populations of nearly-extinct San Juan cutthroat trout, just as a wildfire threatens to decimate the fish.
RSVP Here

Wildlife Habitat Restoration Private Lands Workshop
2025-02-19 17:30 - 20:00 | Western Colorado Research Center, Orchard Mesa, 3170 B 1/2 Rd, Grand Junction, CO, 81503, United States
Are you looking to improve wildlife habitat on your land? Join the Mesa Conservation District and RiversEdge West (REW) for a free workshop! Attendees will learn about ongoing restoration projects in the Grand Valley, how private landowners can get involved in riverside restoration, and funding options to help you reach your goals. Topics will include tamarisk and Russian olive removal, native plant revegetation, enhancing wildlife habitat, increasing river access, and more!
The workshop is free, but please RSVP by February 5th!

Noble Land Essentials
2025-02-26 - 2025-02-27 | Paicines Ranch, Paicines Ranch, CA, 95043
Learn what your land needs to thrive and grow the quality forage needed for today’s grazing herds to be healthy, productive and profitable.
Lessons covered include:

Getting Grounded in Regenerative Agriculture
Bookkeeping Supports Regenerative Goals
Healthier Soil = A Better Bottom Line
Understanding Your Soil Health
Tracking Soil Health

The Monarch Proposed Listing and Western Landowners: What you need to know
2025-02-27 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
In this WLA members-only webinar with USFWS staff, we will hear from the agency personnel responsible for the proposal to add the monarch butterfly as a threatened species to the List of Endangered and Threatened Wildlife under section 4(d) of the ESA, including the designation of critical habitat for the species.
WLA’s chief policy officer, Traci Bruckner, will ask the questions you need to know as you prepare your comments on the ruling, which is open for public comment until March 12, 2025. Questions like, “What are the likely implications for western landowners from a listing?” and “What agricultural and land management activities would be exempt under the proposal?” and “How would landowners who host monarchs on their land be treated under this rule? How does it attempt to avoid disincentives to restoring monarch habitat?”
Join us and ask your own questions too!
REGISTER HERE

Proposed Grizzly Bear Listing Change: Impacts and Insights for Landowners
2025-03-05 12:00 - 13:00 | TX
Description

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is proposing revisions to the listing of grizzly bears in the lower 48 states, retaining their threatened status under the Endangered Species Act while designating a distinct population segment (DPS).
According to the proposed rule, published January 15, 2025 on the Federal Register, the proposal includes provisions to allow ranchers and state agencies to address human-bear conflicts, including limited lethal control and relocation of bears. The public comment period on the proposal closes March 17, 2025.
Join WLA policy and working wild challenge field staff to discuss this rule, the current listing status, and challenges and solutions to reduce grizzly conflicts in this webinar.

Agroforestry for the Southwest: Integrating trees and food to regenerate landscapes and people.
2025-03-11 08:00 - 2025-03-13 13:00 | Santa Fe Community College, 6401 Richards Ave, Santa Fe, NM, 87508
Join us if you are…

Agricultural producers, Tribes, ranchers, community gardeners and orchardists, permaculturalists, water harvesters, and others who produce food for themselves;
Representatives of government agencies, cooperative extension, universities, and nonprofit organizations who support sustainable solutions for agriculture, forestry, and communities through their programs; and
People interested in community food forests and forest-agricultural activities including alley cropping, forest farming, riparian forest buffers, silvopasture, windbreaks, and shelterbelts.

MARCH 11
8:00- – Registration and Beverages
8:30 – Land Acknowledgement, Welcome
9:00 – Indigenous Lands, Indigenous Agroforestry, Traditional Knowledge
James Calabaza (Trees, Water, People); Alicia Thompson (National Young Farmers Coalition), Treston Chee (Trees, Water, People)
10.30 Break
10:50 Land-based agricultural wisdom, traditional farming
JoseLuis Ortiz y Muniz
11:50 LUNCH provided
13:00 Holistic Management and application for planning and managing silvopasture-agroforest systems
Owen Hablutzel, Holistic Management International
13.45 The potential for pecan silvopasturein the Southwest
Noble Institute
14:15 A Holistic Approach to Improving Collaborative Management
Ann Adams, Holistic Management International
15:30 Break
15:45 Growing Connections: Integrating trees into sustainable land stewardship
All participants break-out group discussion. Purpose: to foster meaningful conversations and idea exchange among attendees interested in agroforestry, traditional knowledge, permaculture, holistic management, land stewardship etc. The session aims to facilitate networking amongst conference attendees, help build connections, share knowledge, inspire collaborations, generate ideas for SWAAN outreach and education events
16:30 Report back in plenary
MARCH 12
8:00 Registration and beverages
8:25 Welcome back!
8:30 USDA Programs for supporting agroforestry and solutions for small-scale farms
Joe Alley, USDA-NRCS National Agroforester
9:00 Keyline Design for southwestern lands; heirloom trees
Gordon Tooley, Tooley’s Trees, Keyline Design.
9:30 Ecological restoration planning
Jan Willem-Jansen, Ecotone
10:30 New Mexico’s young farmers – promoting sustainability, community engagement, overcoming challenges
Ana Moran, LeVar Eady, Ash Abeyta (National Young Farmers Coalition)
12:00 LUNCH provided
12:45 TOURS – participants will be contacted after registration to select preferred tours
The Raincatcher, Santa Fe
Santa Ana Pueblo Native Plant Nursery Bernalillo
Chelenzo Farms, Cerillos
Others awaiting confirmation
17:00 Buses return to Santa Fe Community College
MARCH 13
8:00 Beverages
8:25 Welcome back!
8:30 New Mexico Healthy Soil Program Katie Goetz, Dean Bruce, New Mexico Department of Agriculture
9:00 (i) Opportunities for biochar and forestry biomass management in Northern NM;
(ii) Agroforestry Experiences in Chiapas, Mexico
Tomasz Falkowski, University of New Mexico
9:30 Climate-ready trees Marisa Thomson, New Mexico State University
10.00 Community-building with Agroforestry
Kelly Bull, Kelly Bull Permaculture Design
10:30 Break
11:00 To be confirmed
11:45 LUNCH provided
12:45 TOURS – Offered based on participant interest.
There are locations further from Santa Fe (e.g., Albuquerque) which we will reach out to if there is sufficient interest from participants.

Predator Management Mini-Series - Predator Boards & the Economics of Predation
2025-03-11 18:00 - 19:00 | webinar
UWE Sheep Task Force is excited to host a virtual seminar on predator management for Wyoming sheep producers. The seminars will cover using BLM burros/donkeys, Livestock Guard Dogs and economic and count/state services.
Guest speakers include:
LREC Director Derek Scasta
LREC Crew
Cat Urbikit
Chance Marshall
Rob Ziegler
Allison Crane

Measuring nature’s benefits: A wetland ecosystem services tool for Prairie Canada
2025-03-12 12:00 - 14:00 | TX
Webinar –
Register Here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_wSSkRT6mSdaZHhqRAkzdaQ#/registration
Presenter: Dr. Lauren Bortolotti, Research Scientist, Ducks Unlimited Canada Presentation Summary: People derive many benefits from nature. These benefits, which are sometimes referred to as ecosystem services, are crucial to human wellbeing, including in the context of mitigation of the dual crises of global climate change and biodiversity loss. Researchers at Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Institute for Wetland and Water-fowl Research have developed a tool to quantify carbon, biodiversity, water regulation and nutrient retention ecosystem services from wetlands in Prairie Canada. This tool allows us to quantify and communicate the benefits of prairie wetland conservation and learn about synergies and trade–offs amongst ecosystem services. About the Presenter: Lauren Bortolotti is a Research Scientist with Ducks Unlimited Canada’s Institute for Wetland and Waterfowl Research. Her research aims to advance conservation in Canada through four avenues: 1) Quantification of the benefits of nature to society; 2) Creation of conservation decision support tools; 3) Evaluation of conservation programming to improve program design; 4) Addressing fundamental knowledge gaps related to the implementation of nature–based climate solutions. Lauren has a PhD in Ecology from the University of Alberta and a BSc in Biology from the University of Saskatchewan. PCAP’s Prairie’s Got the Goods Week is an annual series of webinars focusing on the goods and services provided by the native prairie ecosystem.
Hosted by: Caitlin Mroz–Sailer, Stewardship Coordinator, Saskatchewan Prairie Conservation Action Plan

Neighboring Through Drought: Water sharing solutions and what they might mean for the West
2025-03-19 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
The third webinar of WLA’s 2025 Water Webinar series will highlight the successes and challenges of community-scale solutions to water sharing during times of drought. What works? What doesn’t? And what do landowners need to know about developing community-led solutions? Our panel of landowners, policy experts, and regional NGO partners will tackle these questions, and many more.
Join us to learn more about how these programs work, what they mean for landowners and water users, and how they could play a role in sustaining working lands and watersheds.
REGISTER HERE

CalGLC Webinar Series
2025-03-28 13:00 - 14:00 | https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_coc2S4L6RZ2kPmz39RNilA#/registration
Building Partnerships in Stewardship Economies: Ranching, community-based organization, voluntary conservation, rangeland research, and policy-making all intersect in successful efforts for rural economic development and sustainability. Let’s talk about it!
Are you interested in strategies for working more effectively with peers and partners?
Hear from representatives from local, state, and west-wide efforts focused on the stewardship of working lands and working communities by working together.

March 28 at noon PST
Centering Community Voices – Using Situation, Problem Solution Framework

Functionality and dysfunctionality of collaboration
Problems and wicked problems
Feasibility, utility & risk
Situation, problem, solution
Where does innovation and adaptation happen?
Why do we engage or not engage?
Talking through examples like: Public Lands, Water, Wildlife, and Economic Development

April 25
Ranchers in the Driver’s Seat: Addressing risk, strengthening community, and improving quality of life together

Inviting new perspectives and skill sets into your community—and when some just show up
Managing the tensions – being grounded in the community while navigating funding, agency rules/culture, etc.
Leaning into the cycles of conflict and resolution, and knowing when not to partner/collaborate and who to invite
Multi-generational opportunities and challenges
The power of convening/coordinating capacity as generative/emergent

May 30
From ranch to co-lobor-atory, from research to co-production- better science through community partnerships
June 27
Grounded policy – discovering solutions within ranching communities

Private Lands Conservation: The Neglected Geography
2025-03-28 18:00 - 19:00 | Mad River Brewery, 195 Taylor Way, Blue Lake, CA, 95525, United States
Richard is a professor emeritus of Wildlife Conservation at Colorado State University and is passionate about the intersection of land use and land health in the American West. Presently, he sits on a number of boards including the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust, where he was Vice-President of Conservation, the Science Board of the Malpai Borderlands Group, the Land Conservation Assistance Network and Rocky Mountain Land Library. Additionally, for 16 years he sat on the Board of Editors for Conservation Biology and for 10 years on the Board of Editors for Ecological Applications.
Don’t miss this unique opportunity to hear from Rick-person during his time in Humboldt County!
Both of his speaking events are available to members and the public and all are welcome and encouraged to attend! Registration is not required.

NE Oregon Rangeland Summit
2025-04-03 10:00 - 17:00 | Eastern Oregon Universy – Hoke 339, One University Blvd, La Grande, OR, 97850, United States
Managing Working Lands in 2025: Learning from the past, leaning into the future
Keynote Speaker: Tip Hudson, host of Art of Range podcast

9:00am – Soft start: Registration and conversation over coffee and light refreshments
10:00am
Welcome from Steering Committee

Keynote with Tipton Hudson of the Art of Range Podcast

10:45am

Invasive Annual Grasses: Presentations and Q&A with local practitioners and scientists, including

Toby Maxwell, researcher
Tyler Bales, Grant SWCD
Will Price, OSU Extension
Mark Porter, Oregon Department of Agriculture

12:00pm: Catered lunch
1:15pm:

Wildfire: Presentations and panel discussion with regional practitioners and local landowners, including

Katie Wollstein, OSU Extension
Andrew Hubur, Wallowa County Grain Growers Agronomy
First-hand experiences with wildfire response and impacts from ranchers and operators

2:30 – Break
2:50pm:

Grazing Flexibility: Presentations, panel and full-group discussions

4:20pm – Final Reflections & Closing
5:00pm – Adjourn

The first-ever Northeast Oregon Rangeland Summit will be held virtually and in-person at Eastern Oregon University in La Grande on Thursday, April 3rd, 2025. The theme of the event is “Managing Working Lands in 2025: Learning from the past, leaning into the future.”

Irrigating for Food and Fish: Water infrastructure and healthy streams
2025-04-16 12:00 - 13:00 | Zoom
The fourth webinar of WLA’s 2025 Water Webinar series will explore the projects and innovative solutions that enable fish to survive and thrive within heavily irrigated systems. Our panel of landowners, scientists, and engineers will explain what needs to happen to protect fish and farms alike, and how these projects require innovation to overcome unique challenges.
Join us to learn more about the relationship between fish and farms, and how collaboration and flexibility can lead to water systems that benefit us all.
REGISTER HERE
