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<p class="MsoNormal">I recently came across an interesting article examining the social drivers of woody plant encroachment in central Texas, recently published in the journal Ecology and Society. This article offers a glimpse into the decision making process
of private landowners and ranchers and resulting management impacts. Through landowner interviews, researchers examined
<span lang="EN" style="font-size:9.0pt;font-family:"Verdana",sans-serif">changes in ranching involvement and rural livelihoods more broadly are directly connected to three factors that contribute to grassland conversion. First the collapse of the sheep and
goat market encouraged a large-scale decrease in browsing livestock on the landscape, which allowed for the growth of shrubs. Second, the increase in hunting leases as a way to make ends meet on the ranch encouraged a preference for—or at least a tolerance
of—a shrubbier landscape. Finally, the decrease in labor availability on the ranch made the continual physical and financial burden of shrub control unrealistic for many landowners, especially as they aged.</span><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><a href="http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss1/art19/">http://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol22/iss1/art19/</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Cheers,<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-family:Magneto">Megan <o:p></o:p></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Megan Haidet<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Program Specialist<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Division of Plant Systems – Protection<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Instutute of Food Production and Sustainability<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">National Institute of Food and Agriculture, USDA<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Office – 202-401-6617<o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal">Email – <a href="mailto:Margaret.haidet@nifa.usda.gov">Margaret.haidet@nifa.usda.gov</a><o:p></o:p></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><o:p> </o:p></p>
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