The Montana Grazing Lands Coalition 2025 Grazing Expo is an event designed to empower land managers with tangible resources while highlighting the West-wide impact of sound grazing lands stewardship. In this interview with Megan Terry, executive director for the Montana Grazing Lands Coalition, we discuss the importance of rancher peer-to-peer learning, integrated face-to-face grazing management education, and why people should attend the 2025 Grazing Expo in Billings September 4-7 and get involved with their state's or region's Grazing Lands Coalition. Listen to Megan's story about becoming an advocate for active management of wild rangelands.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-162-grazing-lands-expo-2025-megan-terry for a full transcript of this interview and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

What would rural finance look like if it truly supported long-term stewardship and resilience? This is the question Zach Ducheneaux has been asking himself and working toward for a couple of decades. Zach is an agricultural producer, a farming advocate, and the former Administrator of the USDA Farm Service Agency. From experiencing firsthand ag lending dysfunction in the 1980s farm crisis, to witnessing local community relationships in action that resulted in local lending based on trust, to helping USDA design lending programs that promote young farmers and ranchers, Zach understands ag lending like few others. In this interview he introduces principles that promote long-term capital reinvestment and producer-centered terms. This is good for borrower and lender. And it builds social capital, something badly needed in a modern economy.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Go to the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-161-5th-c-agricultural-lending-zach-ducheneaux for more information or to contact Zach.

Dan Dagget was one of the original members of EarthFirst!, one of the more radical environmental activist organizations of the last 50 years. In his efforts to achieve health for the Earth’s ecosystems, however, he found himself conflicted over environmentalism’s means and the ends those means actually achieved. With that in mind, he began investigating and writing about success stories where active participation by humans in the ecosystems they depended on for livelihoods made the environment healthier than if they were not there. Two of his books, "Beyond the Rangeland Conflict" and "Gardeners of Eden - Rediscovering Our Importance to Nature" have thus been influential for many of us concerned about the serious environmental problems confronting the contemporary American West.

This work is supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, project award no. 2022-38640-37487 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-160-dan-dagget-peoples-contributions-nature-and-ecosystem-successes-southwest-us for links to more of Dan's work, including photos on his website which he mentions in the interview, and these books.

"Let me write the songs of a nation, and I care not who writes its laws." People think they are primarily 'thinking things', but this quote by a musician from ancient Athens speaks to the fact that most of our decision-making and the direction of our efforts in the world are shaped more by our affections. Creative and expressive arts are hugely influential. We should pay as much attention to what feeds our minds as we do to what feeds our physical bodies, and of course, we realize increasingly realize how connected minds and bodies are. This short monologue is an effort to get scientists to think about creative expression for science communication for artists to think scientifically about what values they portray and encourage in works of art.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-159-can-creative-arts-affect-public-perception-about-rangelands-brief-musing-tip for some related imagery and links to the project website.

Visual arts that draw attention to wild, open spaces have been culturally important in the United States. The outdoors painters of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were instrumental in making Americans aware of spectacularly beautiful places most people would not know about otherwise. And they catalyzed efforts to conserve these landscapes for ecological value and future enjoyment. Frank Stick was one of those painters, one whose work flowed out of deep personal experience and love of nature. Mike Mordell is an outdoorsman, forestry executive, and art collector who authored an illustrated biography of Frank Stick to draw attention to this important work. Art shapes us, directs our affections. Listen to this episode with Mike about the artwork of Frank Stick, "splendid painter of the out-of-doors."

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode are at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-158-frank-stick-splendid-painter-out-doors-biographer-mike-mordell

Can we effectively limit wildfire risk or change the fire risk profile using deliberate grazing? Or is this just wishful, simplistic thinking: "Cows eat fine fuel so that stops fire, right?" These are questions that demand scientific answers, not just anecdotes or coffee shop opinions. Sergio Arispe has worked with other researchers in the Western U.S. to better understand numerous questions around grazing for fire control and to fine-tune the timing, duration, intensity, and frequency of grazing that is most effective in shifting the plant community toward fire resiliency. A current ranch-scale research project aims to understand winter grazing effects on cheatgrass populations and associated wildfire risk in the subsequent summer. This is a timely topic for most rangelands in North America and especially drier ecosystem types with any species of exotic annual grasses.

This work is supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, project award no. 2022-38640-37487 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-157-grazing-fine-fuels-management-and-wildfire-mitigation-sergio-arispe for links to websites and research papers mentioned in this interview.

Over 15 years ago, the veteran journalist Steve Stuebner and Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission executive Gretchen Hyde set out to use the new media landscape to tell good news stories about rangeland landscapes and the unique people who care for them. This has been a wildly successful venture that has reached far beyond the borders of Idaho. Listen to this interview with Steve and Gretchen about the recent "15-year retrospective" story and video on Life on the Range.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page at https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-156-15-years-life-range-steve-stuebner-gretchen-hyde for a full transcript of the interview and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

The National Grazing Lands Coalition (NatGLC) promotes and supports ecologically and economically sound management of grazing lands for multiple benefits to the environment and society through science-based technical assistance, research, and education. Bill Fox has been with NatGLC since the beginning. In this interview, Dr. Fox offers a condensed history of NatGLC and what the organization is doing now. We visit with Jack Field about the June 2025 summer tour in Washington State.

From the tour website: "Pacific Pastures promises to be an unforgettable grazing tour, bringing together farmers, ranchers, and agriculture industry professionals. Participants will have the unique opportunity to network and engage with peers in a stunning backdrop that highlights the diverse landscapes and rich agricultural heritage of the Pacific Northwest. The event will feature an immersive experience that showcases innovative farming practices, sustainable ranching techniques, and the region's unique character. Attendees can look forward to forging valuable connections, sharing insights, and exploring the vibrant agricultural community that defines this remarkable region. Don't miss the chance to be part of this enriching experience that celebrates the heart of Pacific agriculture."

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Go to https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-154-national-grazing-lands-coalition-summer-tour-pacific-northwest for the full transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

Does grazing management make a difference? Can we raise livestock and wildlife and take carbon out of the atmosphere and put it in soil on the same piece of land? Meet Peter Byck, self-described scientist wrangler and producer of Roots So Deep, a four-part documentary series that explores the world of adaptive cattle farmers and their conventional farming neighbors. Adaptive multi-paddock grazing is one of the faces of regenerative agriculture. Listen to this interview to learn about researched results from caring for land well. The Roots So Deep documentary film series shows, rather than tells, how we can have our cake and eat it too -- how grazing patterns can increase soil carbon, increase wildlife diversity, reduce water runoff and soil erosion, and improve financial health of family farms.

This work is supported by the Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education, project award no. 2022-38640-37487 from the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s National Institute of Food and Agriculture.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Go to https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-155-roots-so-deep-you-can-see-devil-down-there-filmmaker-peter-byck for the full transcript and links to resources mentioned in this episode.

The concept of carrying capacity has figured prominently in rangeland ecology and wildlife biology for a century and more. Where did this term come from? Nathan Sayre, a cultural geographer at UC-Berkeley and the author of the book "Politics of Scale - a History of Rangeland Science," answers this question.

According to Sayre, "It is a truism that the Earth’s resources are finite, and that human demands must therefore be kept within some bounds. But this idea has a history fraught with intellectual and political problems. My work on scarcity, carrying capacity, and related ideas explores how these terms and concepts emerged, traces their shifting meanings over time, and reveals their hidden assumptions and flaws."

Our conversation centers around an article he wrote titled "The Genesis, History, and Limits of Carrying Capacity." The origins of the idea and the term, which has been controversial socially, ecologically, and economically, may surprise you.

The Art of Range Podcast is supported by Vence, a subsidiary of Merck Animal Health; the Idaho Rangeland Resources Commission; and the Western Extension Risk Management Education Center.

Visit the episode page to download the article or access the full transcript of this interview: https://artofrange.com/episodes/aor-152-nathan-sayre-genesis-and-limits-carrying-capacity