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Economic Benefits of Grassland Areas Report

A Summary of the Grassland Foundation's Economic Benefits of Grassland Protected Areas Report

The report (the full version is available here) is a collection of ideas and anecdotal evidence that supports incremental and targeted land use and ownership change in the grassland areas of our state. Though cattle will always be king on the plains, properly conceived and implemented at the local level, a protected areas initiative could benefit the state’s economy. The intent of the report is to initiate further dialogue about how such change may be accomplished.

50 Million Acres in Nebraska:
How it divides up

Nebraska will benefit from setting aside 10 percent of its remaining grasslands in large-scale conservation areas. Regrettably when most of the great parks were created in the United States at the turn of the 20th century, grasslands were not included and while many places in the world in recent years created new, more people friendly protected areas as part of a sustainable rural development strategy, Nebraska stood by while its rural communities lost people and their economic base because of changes in the economics of agriculture.

Grasslands Are Highly Threatened. Grasslands globally are the least protected and the most in need of protection of any habitat on the planet.

Opportunities and Challenges Nebraska is fortunate to still have millions of acres of native prairie grassland capable of restoring a wildlife spectacle to rival that seen by Lewis & Clark. Wildlife recreation (wildlife viewing, hunting and fishing) is a multibillion- dollar industry in the United States. In fact, the total amount of money spent on wildlife recreation (more than $100 billion) in the United States exceeds total cash
receipts from all livestock sales. The challenge for Nebraska if it is to tap into this economic market is that less than 5 percent of Nebraska’s land base is in public access ownership, and even less is in strict conservation management. We therefore must
find new, innovative ways to create habitat complexes that are compatible with our private lands heritage, yet allow us to take full advantage of the lands ecological and economic potential.

Large-scale grassland conservation
areas (parks, wildlife refuges and nature
reserves) will benefit Nebraska by:

  • attracting and retaining residents who bring business and money into the community;
  • creating nature-based tourism opportunities;
  • providing employment through restoration and maintenance activities;
  • attracting federal and state spending relating to wildlife conservation;
  • and pulling in public and private capital for land acquisition and management.

The Grassland Foundation and Private Lands Ranching:

  • We do not intend to own conservation lands.
  • We believe the profitability of private lands ranching is essential to the conservation of grassland regions.
  • Generally speaking, we believe the conservation management of private lands should the focus of conservation efforts, rather than land acquisition.
  • Any land ownership change should be locally driven, and should be targeted and incremental to achieve both conservation and community development objectives.
  • The private lands ranching heritage on the plains should be respected and its preservation should be an objective of public policy.

To download a summary of the Economic Benefits of Grassland Protected Areas Report, click here.