Ranching into the Future
Ranching and farming throughout the country are essential to maintaining local and regional agricultural economies and preserving rural heritage and culture. For generations, ranchers and farmers have been some of the best land stewards around, and their working landscapes can help sustain plant and wildlife habitat. However, with costs of running a sustainable operation on the rise, and urban encroachment and exurban development reducing open space throughout the West, Arizona, among other states, is losing its ranchland and farmland at an alarming rate.

Recognizing that existing ranches and farms provide a variety of community benefits that also include clean air, water and iconic western viewscapes, Arizona Land and Water Trust (ALWT) has embarked on a mission to help Arizona ranchers identify and implement strategies that can help them stay on the land and maintain their operations.

Read the article in LTA's Spring 2010 Saving Land