Figure - available from: Environmental Research Letters
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Map of United States counties displayed with percentage of the total population of Hispanic of Latino Origin in 2017. While the most concentrated Latino populations are in border states, there are also sizable populations in interior Western states. Data is from the US Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (US Census Bureau 2017).
Source publication
Reviewing recent social science research on the western United States from multiple disciplines, we present a state-of-the-art synthesis for scholars and policymakers focused on the socioecological future of this distinctive region. We address four core topics: (1) Migration and population change, focusing on the movements of people across the US W...
Citations
... Societal demand for rangeland ecosystem services has been shifting from provisioning (for example, forage and beef cattle production) to cultural and amenity services (for example, recreation, ecotourism, suburban and exurban development, and hobby ranching) in recent decades 2,4 . This is a consequence of both demographic growth and migration 16,17 . Initially defined as a willingness of new ranch owners to exchange lifestyle benefits for marginal economic returns 18 , https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-023-01194-6 of beef production 24 . ...
... Increasing amenity landownership will introduce both potential benefits and challenges for rural communities. Conservation priorities shared by local ranchers and amenity owners may create collaborative partnerships that effectively address emergent challenges posed by accelerating biophysical and socioeconomic drivers 17 . Although, specific motivations among amenity owners may vary widely 18 , potential opportunities for enhanced rangeland sustainably include adoption of novel management and restoration programmes, improved property caretaking and creative leasing arrangements, with opportunities for local employment and philanthropic investment in local communities 16 . ...
... The challenges associated with amenity ownership vary widely and some may be highly consequential. Increased land and real-estate values may financially disadvantage local landowners and exclude ownership by new, less wealthy individuals 16,17 . Livestock-related agribusinesses (for example, farm and feed stores, and veterinarians) may be adversely impacted, depending on the extent to which amenity owners continue cattle production, with implications for local job markets and community organizations (for example, medical facilities, churches and schools). ...
... To overcome this difficulty, we launched an original data collection effort in June of 2020 in the most sparsely populated rural region of the United States-the North American West. Due to its unique social, political, and economic attributes (19), this large region is likely to have been heavily impacted by the pandemic, making it suitable for assessing how the pandemic has impacted rural well-being in the United States. Further, the geographical reach of this region makes up a substantial portion of the rural contiguous United States, inclusive of Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Utah, Washington, and Wyoming ( Fig. 1). ...
Significance
Rural people have been left out of the vast majority of research on the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As such, our evidence-based understanding of the pandemic in the United States is incomplete, and rural recovery policies risk being informed by anecdotal or urban-centric information. We begin to complete this picture by measuring and assessing the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on rural well-being in the North American West. Findings show there have been significant impacts on health-related and economic dimensions of well-being, and that these impacts are shared across sex, age, ethnicity, and education.
... Philanthropy has a growing profile in conservation governance with multiple channels of influence that affect conservation priorities, public discourse, and policy choices (Farley 2018;Holmes 2012). However, the increasing role of non-governmental entities, such as philanthropic foundations, is often overlooked in research on natural resource governance (Burow et al. 2019). Our short communication examines the role of philanthropy in the Colorado River Basin (CRB), where a series of basin-level planning efforts have been shaped by philanthropic giving over the past decade. ...
Philanthropy plays an important but often invisible role in conserving rivers. We examine the influence of philanthropy on collective action and collaborative governance within the Colorado River Basin, a region where philanthropic support has been growing to achieve conservation objectives. Our short communication combines financial data, interviews, and documentary evidence to capture the opportunities and risks associated with philanthropy's increasing role. Financial expenditures are substantial, averaging $30.8 million USD per year from six large foundations (2013-2019). This funding has enabled collective action, particularly at the basin level, by strengthening or creating new forums for collaboration and investing in technical expertise to equip a broader range of voices in decision-making. It has also favoured market-based strategies and discourses, created dependencies for smaller organisations, and, in some instances, reinforced structural barriers to participation. We recommend transparent reporting of philanthropic spending related to collective action and conservation governance, and argue that foundations should explicitly consider and address legacies of exclusion for marginalised actors and groups.
Problem, research strategy, and findings
Despite early focus on the Global South, it has become clear that the Global North will be transformed through climate-related internal relocation as well. In North America, highly visible disasters have already caused populations to relocate, but historically, larger scale migration has occurred in response to longer term climatic shifts. As relocation to destinations spanning small towns to metropolitan gateways accelerates, planning can play a central role in shaping how these places accommodate newcomers and prepare for longer term urban restructuring. To lay the groundwork for this emerging area of research and practice, we draw from adjacent areas of planning. We examine current research on immigrant integration and amenity migration, recent media coverage of climate destinations, research on shifts in physical livability, and the emerging body of work on receiving communities. Limitations to our study include a focus on recent research and confining the geographical scope to North America. Based on our review, we found that migration is only adaptation when newcomers are effectively integrated into receiving communities. This can occur through reconciling social inclusion with economic development, meeting the distinct needs of newcomers that may also exacerbate the needs of current residents, and pursuing long-term planning for deconcentration.
Takeaway for practice
As climate-related migration becomes part of adaptation practice, planners should focus on reconciling social inclusion and economic development and engaging newcomers and existing residents in participatory processes to develop physical and social resilience.
The wildland-urban interface (WUI), where housing is in close proximity to or intermingled with wildland vegetation, is widespread throughout the United States, but it is unclear how this type of housing development affects public lands. We used a national dataset to examine WUI distribution and growth (1990–2010) in proximity to National Forests and created a typology to characterize each National Forest’s combination of WUI area and housing growth. We found that National Forests are hotspots for WUI growth, with a 38% increase in WUI area and 46% growth in WUI houses from 1990 to 2010, in excess of WUI growth for the conterminous U.S. Growth within National Forests was higher than the surrounding area. Diffuse intermix WUI, where houses are intermingled with wildland vegetation, is common within National Forests, but WUI houses around National Forests were primarily in denser interface WUI areas, which lack substantial wildland vegetation. WUI was more prevalent within and around National Forests in the East, while National Forests in the West experienced higher rates of WUI growth. National Forests with the most challenging WUI issues—extensive WUI area and rapid growth in intermix and interface—were found primarily in the South and interior West. Given the diversity of WUI landscapes, effectively responding to current and future WUI challenges will require both engagement with individual homeowners dispersed throughout National Forests, as well as increased emphasis on mitigating denser interface development around National Forests. At a time when wildfire risks are expected to intensify due to climate change, and 75% of privately owned land within and around National Forests is not yet WUI, understanding WUI growth patterns in proximity to public lands is vital for land management and human well-being.
Livestock grazing on natural rangeland vegetation is one of the most extensive land uses on the earth, with important implications for livelihoods, food security and the environment. Factors such as population growth and urban development, a shift from resource-based to service-based economies, and intensification in the livestock industry change the extent and practice of grazing worldwide. We investigated how and why livestock grazing on public lands changed since 1940 in the High Divide region of the Northern Rocky Mountains through a detailed analysis of United States Forest Service (USFS) rangeland management records. Based on a 90-year land use history, we process-traced the proximate causes of changes in grazing, identified the decision-makers, and statistically tested which underlying factors were associated with changes in grazing. The forage annually consumed by livestock in our study area declined by 62% since 1940, the equivalent of about 33,000 fewer cows grazing on public lands for a three-month summer period. Livestock grazing was closed on 21% of the total allotment area. The reductions in grazing were mainly caused by land management and policy factors: evaluations of range condition (27%), carrying capacity estimates (21%) and legal and administrative requirements (14%) derived from the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA). The socio-economic causes of ranch economics (14%) and amenity migration (8%) were comparatively small. Overlap with wilderness and proximity to amenity towns were significant spatial predictors of reductions in grazing. The fate of publicly-owned but privately-used rangelands largely depends on institutions that are able to reconcile the competing values and demands that influence how they are managed.
