VITAL RANGELANDS
THRIVING COMMUNITIES
ABUNDANT WILDLIFE

Mission Statement:  

“To bring together ranchers, conservationists, agencies, recreationists, scientists and other  rangeland stakeholders to conserve and enhance the social, ecologic and economic values that rangelands provide through shared learning and action.”

Principles:

• Collaborative with an emphasis on consensus based approaches
• Inclusive and transparent
• Focus on share learning
• Committed to science-based solutions that provide social, ecological and economic benefits
• Act in good faith, promote respectful engagement and foster understanding

Why do we need IRCP?

Idaho is over 54% rangeland

Idaho’s rangelands are critically important to our economy, local communities, for the open space and recreational opportunities they provide and as habitat for more than 350 species.  Rangelands west-wide are under siege from multiple threats including fire, invasive plants, and development.  Many locally lead multi-stakeholder collaboratives are stepping up to find solutions to these threats, but they often struggle to access the expertise, knowledge and capacity they need to have broad success.  IRCP will act as a statewide network to support locally lead collaboratives through shared learning, partnership building, collective advocacy for rangelands and by advancing the science and tools for broader use of Outcome Based Land Management principles.

Partnership Building

• • Provide a platform for member organizations to exchange information
  • Build understanding and relationships among organizations to facilitate collaboration and leverage greater influence
  • Foster funding, technical expertise and other support for collaborative and locally led initiatives and projects

Learning Network

• • • Host and support workshops, webinars and events to share learning (what works and what does not work)
    • Support and share findings from various reports and analysis on a variety of topics such as the social and economic benefits of healthy rangelands, agency guideline and policy, new tools and resources for monitoring and other rangeland topics
    • Create a website that acts as a clearinghouse for rangeland partners with a focus on linking to other sites with rangeland information

Advocate for Rangelands

• • Development and use of an interdisciplinary approach to research and monitoring utilizing multiple sources of valid and verified information including academic, agency, landowner, user, citizen and organizations
  • Foster funding, technical expertise and other support for collaborative, objective rangeland management
  • Coordinate development of Outcome Based Land Management framework among members
  • Provide guidance and technical support for Outcome Based Land Management pilots and projects

By supporting locally led collaboratives and facilitating exchanges between the collaboratives, IRCP will accelerate the pace and scale of developing and implementing solutions so that Idaho’s rangelands can be productive and resilient.  Maintaining healthy rangelands and working to restore other rangelands to a healthy status will benefit Idaho’s economy, local communities, recreationists and the hundreds of species that live there.

How are we different from other organizations addressing rangeland issues?

There are several organizations and entities along with state and federal agencies working on Idaho’s rangelands through science, land management practices, policy and lobbying.  However, none of them are focused on bringing together the full diversity of rangeland users to support locally led collaboratives in developing and implementing on-the-ground solutions, typically through an All-Lands, All-Hands approach.  IRCP will coordinate with and collaborate with many of the other organizations working on rangeland issues.