Conservation Grazing and Wildlife Habitat--Manage For What You Want

HMI Executive Director Wayne Knight facilitating the Conservation Grazing and Wildlife Habitat roundtable at the 2025 REGENERATE Conference. PC: REGENERATE Conference

At the 2025 REGENERATE Conference, Wayne Knight, Executive Director of Holistic Management International, facilitated a roundtable discussion on conservation grazing and wildlife habitat that drew ranchers, small-stock farmers, and conservation practitioners into honest—and sometimes heated—conversation about using livestock as tools for ecosystem restoration.

The room wasn't entirely comfortable, but there was safety in the roundtable facilitation of the conversation so people could dig into this critical issue and explore the conflict and the common ground.

The Setup: Management as Problem and Solution

Knight framed the discussion with an uncomfortable truth: human management has degraded most of the world's grassland habitats. Yet as Aldo Leopold recognized, habitat preservation is the essence of species conservation. And as Allan Savory noted, it's the herbivore-plant-soil-predator interactions that allowed grasslands to thrive for millennia.

"The question isn't whether grazing impacts ecosystems—it always has," Knight stated. "The question is whether we can design grazing to regenerate rather than degrade."

Voices from the Field: Success and Tension

Participants shared compelling results across scales. A small-stock farmer described transforming 40 degraded acres into diverse habitat that attracted songbirds within three years. A Montana rancher documented increased Elk numbers alongside improved ranch profitability through adaptive grazing planning. Conservation organizations reported better habitat outcomes for grassland birds on working ranches than static preserves.

But the conversation wasn't all success stories.

"We need to talk about predators," a Wyoming rancher interjected, introducing the roundtable's most contentious topic. "You can't discuss healthy ecosystems without addressing predation—but when wolves are killing my calves, ecosystem function feels pretty abstract."

The tension was palpable. Conservation practitioners emphasized that predator-prey dynamics are fundamental to ecosystem health. Ranchers countered with financial realities and emotional tolls. A New Mexico land manager attempted middle ground: "We can acknowledge predators' ecological role while also recognizing the real costs ranchers bear. Both things are true."

The disagreement remained unresolved—a reminder that conservation grazing operates within complex social and economic realities, not just ecological ones.

From Overwhelm to Clarity: The Power of Intentional Goals

A turning point came when discussion shifted from competing priorities to intentional management.

"For years, I managed reactively—responding to whatever happened," one rancher admitted. "But I wasn't intentional about what I actually wanted to create. When I started clearly defining goals—specific outcomes for plant diversity, wildlife cover, soil health—my decisions became clearer."

This principle of "manage for what you want" resonated throughout the room. Rather than hoping for likely outcomes, successful practitioners proactively managed for desired outcomes.

Yet clarity introduced new challenges. How do you manage when goals seem to conflict? Maximize production while leaving residual grass for nesting birds? Improve riparian areas while maintaining grazing flexibility? Control invasives while increasing diversity?

"I felt paralyzed by competing demands," one participant confessed. "Biologists, bankers, extension people and the land itself all seemed to want different things."

Adaptive Management: Navigating Complexity

This is where Holistic Planned Grazing emerged as critical. Multiple participants credited this framework—part of Holistic Management—with helping them navigate complexity without paralysis.

"It gave me a process for testing decisions against my whole context—values, production goals, resource base," a Wyoming rancher explained. "The complexity doesn't disappear, but I have a way to navigate it."

Participants described intentionally applying three distinct tools—grazing, animal impact, and herd effect—to achieve different outcomes in different places at different times. Equally important was the "adaptive" component: responding to actual conditions rather than rigidly following plans.

"We plan with the best information we have, then pay attention and adjust," Knight summarized. "That's adaptive management—treating plans as living frameworks that evolve with weather, markets, wildlife needs, and emerging challenges."

One rancher captured the transformation: "I'm not less busy, but I'm not paralyzed anymore. I have a process that accounts for the whole—not just one priority at the expense of others. The complexity isn't about juggling ten objectives; it's managing ecosystem processes that create conditions for all of them” . “It’s also about using a process to allocate resources most effectively for the prevailing conditions”, Knight added.

The Paradigm Shift

The roundtable advanced a crucial insight: clearly defined outcomes combined with adaptive planning frameworks can navigate complexity effectively. When managed holistically, working lands and wildlife habitat aren't competing priorities—they're integrated outcomes.

"The old model was either-or: production or conservation," Knight reflected. "What we're learning is it's both-and—when you manage intentionally for ecosystem function and adapt to prevailing conditions."

Even the predator debate, unresolved as it was, illustrated this reality. Managing for healthy ecosystems means grappling with all their components—uncomfortable ones included.

"Manage for what you want, test decisions against the whole, and adapt to what is—not what should be." – Regenerate 2025

Read other case studies of how conservation ranching has improved wildlife habitat in Mexico.