Background

Across the Intermountain West, the future of rangelands depends on the availability and health of water resources. Wet meadows, green ribbons of life tucked into an otherwise dry landscape, are among the most productive and ecologically significant areas on working lands. When functioning well, these systems sustain forage for livestock, provide critical wildlife habitat, and act as sponges that store water and carbon, and buffer ecosystems against extreme weather events. However, decades of mismanagement have left many meadows degraded and dry. Despite their disproportionate impact on rangelands, wet meadows are often overlooked in restoration efforts, underrepresented in scientific research, and largely absent from broader rangeland management plans.

Supported by a grant from the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation, we’re partnering with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service - Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program to revitalize wet-meadows across the intermountain west, both now and into the future. This project is about bolstering agricultural production and wildlife habitat resilience by restoring vital wet-meadow ecosystems. We are then using these restoration areas to develop a deeper understanding of LTPBR (Low-Tech Process Based Restoration) techniques to guide future management decisions. We’re connecting ecosystem restoration, agricultural production, rigorous science, and landowners across the board for a wetter, greener future.

Our Role

WLC is bringing years of experience in scientific monitoring and community building to inform good decision making throughout the entire process. This project isn’t just about making a few project sites look good, its about equipping landowners with the tools and knowledge they need to be the best stewards of their property. We’ll be engaging with ranchers through each step to ensure their goals are met, and then we’ll be tracking how we got there and sharing that valuable knowledge so that our vision of a wetter, greener future can extend far beyond our project sites.