Training tomorrow's rangeland stewards

The sustainability of rangelands depends on the next generation of land managers — and universities like South Dakota State University are where that pipeline begins.

As the world recognizes 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, as determined by the United Nations, this is a fitting moment to examine not only the value of rangelands themselves, but the educational foundation that sustains the people who manage them.

Rangelands rarely make headlines. Yet across the American West, South Dakota and much of the world, these grasslands, shrublands and savannas quietly sustain life in ways that are profound and underappreciated. According to the Society for Range Management's Ecosystem Services Report, rangelands are working landscapes that, through active management and stewardship, provide essential services supporting our economy, environment and daily lives.

Ensuring those services continue requires a workforce trained to understand and manage them, which is what makes accredited range programs like the one at South Dakota State University so important.

“Students learn to read landscapes, design grazing systems, monitor rangeland health and communicate across the divide between agriculture and conservation,” said Sean Di Stefano, assistant professor of rangeland ecology and management in the Department of Natural Resource Management at SDSU. “These are not abstract academic exercises; they are the tools graduates carry into careers with federal agencies, tribal nations, ranching operations, conservation organizations and extension services.”

Situated in one of the nation's most rangeland-rich states, where nearly 30 million acres of grassland support both working ranches and extraordinary biodiversity, SDSU trains undergraduate students to understand rangelands as the complex social-ecological systems they are. Coursework integrates plant ecology, soil science, animal science, hydrology and stakeholder communication. Field experiences connect classroom learning to real landscapes and real management decisions.

Undergraduate range science programs equip students with the ecological knowledge, practical skills and management frameworks needed to navigate increasingly complex land management challenges including invasive species, drought, shifting land use and competing stakeholder interests. The program at SDSU is unique in that it is run out of the Department of Natural Resource Management within the College of Agriculture, Food and Environmental Sciences. This allows students firsthand experience in how conservation and agriculture work together to conserve rangelands.

“Graduates leave prepared not just for their first job, but for a career of adaptive, science-based stewardship,” said Krista Ehlert, associate professor of rangeland ecology and management and SDSU Extension range specialist.

Ranching families and pastoral communities depend on that expertise pipeline. As the challenges facing rangelands intensify and as the demographic shift in agriculture continues, the need for trained range professionals grows. At the same time, rangelands face shrinking visibility in public discourse and declining enrollment in natural resource programs nationally.

The International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists offers a timely opportunity to reverse that trend, to make the case that rangelands matter and that the people who manage them deserve investment, recognition and a clear educational pathway.

The next generation of land managers will determine the future of these landscapes. Rangelands need champions and undergraduate range programs are where those champions begin. More information about the SDSU rangeland ecology and management program is available online, or by reaching out to Ehlert or Di Stefano.