Conserving and caring for land and natural resources requires ongoing time, labor and money. Yet most people don’t realize the extent to which people and wildlife depend on private lands, nor the substantial investments private landowners make to them annually.
When picturing the American West, it’s easy to think of the public lands, wildlife refuges and iconic places like Yellowstone National Park. Yet nearly half of the American West is owned and stewarded by private landowners. The rural communities, livelihoods and ecosystems supported by these private, working lands deliver immense and irreplaceable public benefits thanks to the ongoing stewardship of landowners.
Despite these benefits, the U.S. is losing roughly 2,000 acres of farmland each day—about 730,000 acres per year—to non-agricultural uses. The conversion of agricultural land to other uses threatens not only the nation’s food security but the rural communities and wildlife species that exist on these farms and ranches.
The majority of endangered species rely on habitat found on private lands. In the West, wildlife migrations persist because of farms and ranches, not in spite of them. Across the region, working lands are keeping some of the most important ecosystems intact.
Yet these benefits are frequently overlooked in public policy and public conversation. As a result, investments and policy have failed to recognize and support the real cost of keeping land whole and healthy.
A recent report by the Western Landowners Alliance (WLA) sheds light on landowner contributions to conservation. WLA commissioned Southwick Associates to quantify the conservation investments landowners make beyond normal operating expenses in wildlife habitat, rangeland management, water resources and forest health. The results are striking.
In 2024 alone, western landowners managing 500 acres or more collectively invested an estimated $408 million out-of-pocket in conservation efforts. These private investments exceed some of the county’s major public wildlife funding mechanisms such as the Pittman-Robertson and Dingell-Johnson federal excise taxes on firearms, ammunition and fishing equipment ($342.7 million generated in 2024).
At the same time, landowners experienced $101 million in wildlife-caused losses to crops, forage, water and livestock in 2024, plus $37.6 million in repair costs. Only 16% of landowners received any compensation, and that compensation covered only 20% of their total losses.
Landowners also reported foregoing income opportunities, such as development or agricultural expansion, to protect wildlife and maintain habitat connectivity, and most rank conservation as a top priority. Yet despite strong conservation values, participation in public conservation programs remains low due to cost, complexity and mistrust.
Conservation is more than just preservation or restoration. The ongoing care of these resources is essential, yet stewardship is expensive and often uncompensated. If the public wants private lands to continue to deliver wildlife and other conservation benefits, we need to find better ways to partner and co-invest with landowners.
Private landowners are not peripheral to conservation in the American West; they are central to it. Their day-to-day management decisions, substantial out-of-pocket investments, and long-term stewardship shape the landscapes that sustain wildlife, water, food production and rural communities alike.
This means working with landowners in developing strategies and solutions that keep the West healthy and prosperous. The perspectives and boots-on-the-ground experience that landowners bring to the table are essential in creating practical and durable solutions.
This means building public-private partnerships and conservation funding models that support the real costs of stewardship. Public policies must also allow landowners flexibility to learn and adapt their management to changing conditions and evolving science.
Farm bill programs need to support the unique stewardship needs and challenges of the West’s working lands. Programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, Conservation Stewardship Program and Agricultural Conservation Easement Program are among the few tools supporting landowners who invest in habitat, water and essential conservation infrastructure. Habitat leasing through the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program is one of the only mechanisms that compensates producers for providing wildlife habitat, yet payment rates fall short of what it truly costs to maintain healthy range and grasslands.
We can and should take pride in the stewardship happening on working lands. And we can do a better job telling that story to ensure that a new era of conservation respects and recognizes the value of private working lands. — Shaleas Harrison
Shaleas Harrison is the policy manager for Western Landowners Alliance. She’s a fourth-generation farmer in Park County, Wyoming.
