Monitoring Natural Resources on Rangeland Conservation Easements

Compliance monitoring of easement properties is monitoring to see if the easement is being stewarded as agreed in the terms and objectives of the easement. Additional monitoring of natural resources also called ecological monitoring can provide important information on ecological status and trends and can be part of an assessment of the effectiveness of easements as a conservation strategy. There is a high level of variability in rangeland easement terms and monitoring approaches. The residual dry matter guidelines in annual grasslands and oak woodlands were the most common rangeland measure in the grazing easements. It can provide important information to the ranch manager but is not indicator for all resource goals. The challenge for natural resource management on private land with conservation on private land with conservation easement is to create terms clear enough to prevent resource degradation over the long term but flexible enough to allow for adaptive resource management with changing conditions and rancher needs.