Managing Undesirable Vegetation Transitions on the Landscape: A Study of Perceptions of Conservation Professionals in Nebraska and Montana

In this bulletin, we have provided a descriptive analysis of the perceptions of conservation professionals in Nebraska and Montana, two states where the rangeland ecosystem is facing a large-scale transition from native grasses to invasive trees and grasses. This analysis provides an initial understanding of the different factors that can influence adoption of policy initiatives by conservation professionals. When considered alongside insights into the management behaviors of ranchers—whose productivity and profitability are adversely affected by these transitions—this information helps form a more comprehensive picture of the ecological and economic impacts of UVTs, as well as strategies for their mitigation. In the next step, our goal is to analyze data from questions about respondents’ social networks to evaluate how the structure and composition of their networks influence policy priorities and barriers, and how those are related to their perceptions of trust. This analysis will be conducted for both states while controlling for respondent-level characteristics and other variables in the data set, thereby deepening our understanding of how personal, environmental, and social factors influence professionals’ approaches to UVT management on the landscape.