Join the Ranch Managers Guild: https://wla.social/guild

Today we're sharing an episode from our friends at the Land Investor Podcast featuring Justin Howe—President of Gates Family Ranches, which is a family-owned cattle, hospitality, and conservation operation spanning the Colorado–Wyoming border. Alongside his wife, Lissa, Justin has co-managed the A Bar A Guest Ranch since 2008.

Justin is also a Western Landowners Alliance board member and advisor to our Ranch Managers Guild—a network built to support the people stewarding working lands every day. The Guild offers connection, practical tools, and professional development for managers of family ranches, cattle operations, and conservation properties alike.

In this episode, hosts Matt and Ryan sit down with Justin for an in-depth conversation about modern ranch management in the American West. Drawing on decades of hands-on experience, Justin shares how today's ranch leaders balance cattle operations, guest services, conservation goals, technology, and landowner priorities—all while keeping large, complex landscapes healthy and productive for the long haul.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2026/podcast/modern-ranch-management-at-scale-with-justin-howe/

In a drying West, more producers are looking for options to remain viable, which is why today we're taking a look at dryland farming.

Relying on water from the sky in the Colorado River Basin, where it feels like irrigation is the norm, is not an easy task. That's why we're chatting with Gus Westerman, director at Colorado State University Extension and drought advisor, to learn how to make farming economically and ecologically viable in a part of Colorado that puts the "dry" in dryland.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2026/podcast/dryland-farming-in-the-colorado-basin-with-gus-westerman/

A new report reveals that Western landowners invested at least $407.5 million of their own money in conservation in 2024, outpacing many of the most well-known public funding programs. This new data fills a major gap in how we understand conservation economics.

Today, WLA CEO Lesli Allison and WLA's communications director Louis Wertz walk through what the data shows, why these investments have gone largely unrecognized, and what it means for the future of conservation in the West.

Full report here: https://westernlandowners.org/landowner-investment/

Today we're sharing an episode from our friends at Reframing Rural, an award-winning documentary podcast telling honest, place-rooted stories of rural people and communities.

Their new season, "Succession Stories," offers an intimate look at the family farm and ranch succession process - something rarely talked about openly, yet central to the future of working lands.

Before we roll the episode, we sit down for a short conversation with the show's creator, Megan Torgerson, to hear what she's learning from families across Montana.

Show Notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/podcast/listen-new-podcast-season-provides-an-intimate-look-into-the-family-farm-and-ranch-succession-process/

Photo credit: Morgan Ellis

Today, we're looking at the future of the Bureau of Land Management — a federal agency that oversees nearly 250 million acres of land in the West.

We're in the middle of a critical moment for public lands, especially the BLM. Staffing and budget cuts are hitting an agency that's already stretched thin, there's still no confirmed director, and a recent ProPublica investigation is once again raising questions about oversight of the grazing program.

To help put all these headlines in context, and consider what reforms might even be possible, WLA's CEO Lesli Allison sat down with Jesse Juen, former New Mexico State Director of the BLM.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/podcast/whats-ahead-for-americas-public-lands-with-jesse-juen-former-blm-state-director/

Today we're digging into a deceptively simple tool with big impacts on water and soil health: rock weirs.

Rancher and Working Wild Challenge director Erik Kalsta joins us from Montana's Big Hole Valley to explain how he uses these low-tech structures to slow water and reduce erosion on his operation.

He shares what he's learned from years of observing the land — and why small interventions can create big change.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/podcast/using-rock-weirs-to-slow-water-in-the-big-hole-valley-with-rancher-erik-kalsta/

California's recent decision to remove four members of a wolf pack near Lake Tahoe sparked national attention - but the story behind it is much bigger.

Today on the On Land feed, we're sharing a special episode from our sister show, Working Wild University, which WLA produces with wildlife management specialist and prof. Jared Beaver at Montana State University Extension.

In this episode, Wildlife Management professor at UC Berkeley, Dr. Arthur Middleton, joins us to dig into his recent New York Times op-ed and explore why America's predator recovery has outpaced our ability to support the people living in these landscape – and what we can do about it.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/podcast/california-wolves-87-dead-cattle-and-the-nyt-op-ed-everyones-sharing/

This episode was hosted by Jared Beaver and produced by Zach Altman, with support from Avery Shawler and Louis Wertz.

Only 7% of philanthropic dollars goes toward rural America, and our guest today is working to change that.

Today our CEO Lesli Allison sits down with Erin Borla, executive director of the Roundhouse Foundation in Sisters, Oregon. Erin's helping reimagine what philanthropy looks like in rural and tribal communities, through both the Foundation's grantmaking and their podcast Funding Rural.

Show notes: https://onland.westernlandowners.org/2025/podcast/inside-the-movement-to-fund-rural-america-with-erin-borla/

The American West is changing fast, and one of the biggest forces shaping that change is development. Sprawl - those 35-acre subdivisions and ranchettes you see spreading across the landscape - can mean paradise for some, and the unraveling of communities, wildlife habitat and productive landscapes for others.

Today we're talking about what's driving that growth, what it means for landowners and rural economies and what kinds of solutions might help us strike a balance between private property rights, conservation and community needs.

On the show today, our CEO Lesli Allison sits down with Ken Mirr, founder of Mirr Ranch Group and longtime land broker who has worked at the intersection of ranching, conservation and real estate for decades.

Show notes: https://onland.link/podcast

The Endangered Species Act has helped save iconic species from extinction - but it's also created real tension for the private landowners who manage the majority of wildlife habitat in the U.S.

In this episode, WLA CEO Lesli Allison sits down with Leo Miranda, executive director of Conservation Without Conflict and former Southeast Regional Director for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. From his early days as a field biologist in Puerto Rico to leading one of the most innovative regional conservation efforts in the country, and as a farmer in Georgia, Leo brings a unique perspective on what it takes to shift from conflict to collaboration.

Together, they explore how trust, transparency, and voluntary partnerships have produced conservation successes in the Southeast - and what it will take to scale those successes across the West.

Find show notes and more: https://onland.link/podcast

Like what you hear? Make a gift today: https://westernlandowners.org/support/