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Paying for Stewardship Cover

This publication was produced in collaboration with WRA, Inc., Conservation Investment Management, and the University of Wyoming’s Ruckelshaus Institute.

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Paying for Stewardship

A Western Landowners’ Guide to Conservation Finance

Restoring habitat, water courses, and soils have costs, and unfortunately, mainstream agricultural policy passes them not to taxpayers or consumers, but to farmers and ranchers. This guide presents some ways landowners can earn compensation for their stewardship efforts directly or indirectly—schemes sometimes referred to as payments for ecosystem services, ecosystem services markets, or conservation finance. It goes beyond description to provide illustrative case studies of these strategies at work.

The Western Landowners Alliance and the authors reserve all copyrights on publications posted on our website unless otherwise noted. Please contact us for reprints or for special use requests.

A Farm Bill that works for the West

WLA’s 2023 Farm Bill Platform There are many threats facing working lands in the West today, from drought and fire to economic challenges to increasingly intense development pressure. With every…

2023 National Policy Platform

As landowners and land managers, we recognize that well-managed working lands are the cornerstones of both human communities and the ecosystems on which we all depend. We know what it…

Western water conservation and drought mitigation on private working lands

Policy opportunities in the farm bill and beyond The western United States continues to face extended and increasingly severe drought conditions that threaten municipal and agricultural water supplies, energy production,…

Letter to NRCS Re: Non-lethal predator risk management

In this letter signed by hundreds of producers from around the West, we ask USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service staff to consider “technical and financial assistance to support producer-implemented natural…

Supporting Working Lands and Wildlife with the Four C’s

Policy Recommendations from the Conflict Reduction Consortium Across the western US, iconic wildlife like elk, deer, grizzly bears, and wolves share lands with humans and their livestock. This comes with…

2022 Policy Platform

As landowners and land managers, we recognize that well-managed working lands are the cornerstones of both human communities and the ecosystems on which we all depend. We have a deep,…

Working across the rural-urban divide: Messaging for large carnivore conflict reduction

Conflicts between large carnivores and livestock can be polarizing. The words used around large carnivore-livestock conflict reduction can either further polarize a sensitive situation or bring people together in a…

Securing Your Legacy on the Land, Part 5: Best Practices of Non-Resident Landowners

How is succession planning different for non-resident or “absentee” landowners? With this ownership type becoming more and more common in the West, how can these landowners best steward their investment to the next generation?

Redefining Conservation for the 21st Century

Our roadmap to a conservation model that works for rural America, working lands and wildlife. Conservation as usual isn’t working. We are literally losing ground and natural resources every day.…

New Mexicans Agree

New Mexico needs permanent statewide funding for agricultural and natural resources projects

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