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The Rangelands Partnership
The Rangelands Partnership, created in 2002, is a collaboration of 19 land-grant universities representing the Western and Great Plains regions of the United States. Membership includes rangeland scientists and Cooperative Extension personnel, agriculture and technology librarians, and IT specialists. In addition, the Partnership has agreements with other related organizations and professional societies around the world. The purpose of the Partnership is to provide open access to scientific, educational, and practical information about sustainable rangelands management through its websites: Global Rangelands, Rangelands West, and state-specific sites such as Arizona Rangelands, Idaho Rangelands, and California Rangelands. The Global Rangelands database includes more than 20,000 journal articles, reports, fact sheets, web links, videos, and educational resources. Target audiences for the websites are public and private land managers, researchers, Extension professionals, educators, students, and the public.

History, Partners & Cooperating Organizations
First initiated at the University of Arizona (UA) in 1996 by university librarians, Web specialists, and the range extension specialist, the goal was to use Internet technologies to deliver information and provide new research and learning opportunities about rangeland science and management to increasingly connected audiences. As one of the original five institutional members of the National Agricultural Library’s Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC) effort, the preliminary “Managing Rangelands” website was an early example of a cooperative approach to the electronic dissemination of information. However, the University of Arizona team recognized that the broad issues related to rangeland management do not stop at political boundaries. As a result, in 2001, the framework for a virtual regional rangelands stewardship initiative was presented at the Western College of Agriculture deans and directors’ summer meeting. A similar presentation was made to library officials. The result was support from deans and directors to move forward on a regional effort. Concurrently, on the ground rangelands specialists and agricultural librarians were also contacted. Using this top down and bottom up approach led to the current collaboration among13 Western land-grants and 6 Great Plains states, each with a designated range professional and librarian/IT member. Rangeland specialists bring theirdisciplinary knowledge to the development of content as well as contacts with related organizations such as the Society for Range Management, with whom the Partnership has an agreement to provide access to journal back files. Similarly, librarians and IT specialists coordinate information technologies and relationships with other open access information providers.

Primary Partners

 * Colorado State University
 * Kansas State University
 * Montana State University
 * North Dakota State University
 * New Mexico State University
 * Oklahoma State University
 * Oregon State University
 * South Dakota State University
 * Texas A&M University
 * University of Alaska Fairbanks
 * University of Arizona
 * University of California, Davis
 * University of Hawaii
 * University of Idaho
 * University of Nebraska, Lincoln
 * University of Nevada, Reno
 * University of Wyoming
 * Utah State University
 * Washington State University
 * University of Sonora, Hermosillo, Mexico

Cooperative Organizations

 * Agriculture Network Information Center (AgNIC)
 * Allen Press, Inc.
 * Australian Rangeland Society
 * CSIRO Publishing (The Rangeland Journal)
 * Grasslands Society of Southern Africa
 * Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO)
 * Forest and Range.org Online Learning
 * Global Open Data for Agriculture and Nutrition (GODAN)
 * Range Science Information System (RSIS)
 * Renewable Resources Extension Act (RREA) Program
 * Society for Range Management
 * University of Arizona, University Libraries
 * University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences
 * University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Cooperative Extension
 * University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, School of Natural Resources and the Environment
 * Western Association of Agricultural Experiment Station Directors (WERA)

Background and Importance of Rangelands
Rangelands are the dominant ecosystem in more than half of the Western United States. They provide essential functions and benefits to people everywhere including: CO2 compensation for clean air, forage and food production, water recharge and riparian life, wildlife habitat, and open space and recreation. Yet, many forces threaten the productivity and ecological integrity of these lands and the human communities that rely on them. These threats include, but are not limited to, unsustainable grazing practices, damaging fire regimes, invasive plants, rural subdivision, and destructive recreational activities. Given changing climatic conditions, public health concerns, legal rulings, and economic uncertainties, an understanding of rangelands management issues is important for making informed land management decisions.

Websites & Social Media
The primary websites maintained by The Rangelands Partnership include: http://globalrangelands.org (a worldwide repository of more than 20,000 peer reviewed articles, reports, fact sheets, and user resources including Wrangle (http://wrangle.org – a multimedia exploration of the world’s rangelands); http://globalrangelands.org/rangelandswest (a portal to rangeland stewardship information and resources specifically relevant to the Western United States, including a map interface to member websites and educational tools specific to teachers and students – Careers and Education; Course Catalog; and a Teaching Clearinghouse; and 19 state-specific websites focusing on local rangelands issues, events, and user-requested resources. Examples include: http://globalrangelands/arizona; http://globalrangelands.org/idaho; http://uwyoextension.org/uwrange/; http://californiarangeland.ucdavis.edu/ and http://globalrangelands.org/hawaii. Rangeland partners also developed the eXtension Rangelands Community of Practice and Range Science Information System (RSIS) that offers annotated references to key range science articles from refereed journals. In addition, The Rangelands Partnership maintains a social media presence through Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube, as well as on Pinterest, Linked In, Instagram, and ScoopIt!.

A Selection of Video Productions
In 2015, with funding from a grant from USDA-NIFA-RREA, members of the Partnership began developing a series of videos on rangelands issues and to document local knowledge of public and private land managers. Several have been aired on PBS’s Arizona Illustrated (Mexican Grey Wolves Reintroduced and Jaguars Returning to Arizona), and some segments have been shown on RFD-TV’s Out on the Land program.

View Point Videos

 * Mexican Grey Wolf - http://www.youtube.com/Z0NGgZQJxTA
 * Generational Transfer - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-MpTdmwuEhA
 * Jaguar - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PzM1-oUi8RA

Video Clip Introductions

 * Rangelands in the World - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1ST5hHzvPqA
 * Understanding Rangeland Ecology - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sri_VgdLU2I
 * Maintaining and Improving Rangelands - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1nms2nE4p1I
 * Human and Economic Dimensions – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LeJuHkvUx3k
 * Large Landscape Conservation - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSzLEIfjuDY

Communications and Engagement
Communication and engagement takes place at two levels: among the Partnership members and with users of the Partnership’s websites. At the Partnership level, a listserv is the primary means of communication. During 2015, a monthly e-Newsletter was also introduced. Periodic surveys are distributed via the listserv by the Partnership’s Executive Committee and Technical Team to gain feedback from members. In addition, each year one of the member institutions hosts a meeting and workshop for the Partners to plan, report, and strategize, and to gain practice with technical tools and content development. Concurrently, interactions with a variety of stakeholders are facilitated through online surveys, as well as through periodic focus group sessions to gain feedback on products and services.

Governance & Executive Committee
Since 2005, the Partnership has been a designated Western Education/Extension and Research Activity (WERA) multistate research project. Following WERA guidelines, the Partnership instituted a governance structure that builds on its multidisciplinary emphasis. An Executive Committee consisting of a Chair, co-Chair, and Secretary-Treasurer rotates between a rangelands specialist and a librarian, each serving a three year term. The Executive Committee coordinates activities, communicates with the membership, facilitates annual meetings, reviews the Bylaws, and meets monthly with the Technical Team and Annual Meeting organizers. Task forces and committees are convened as needed. Voting members include one rangelands specialist and one librarian/It personnel from each of the 19 member land-grant universities.

Grants Received

 * General Services Administration grant (1995)
 * USDA Telecommunications grant (1996)
 * Cooperative Agreement with Society for Range Management (2004)
 * Western Sustainable Agriculture Research and Education (SARE) grant (2005)
 * Multistate Research Project under the Western Extension and Research Administrative Committee (WERA 1008) (2005 and reconfirmed in 2011)
 * eXtension Rangelands Stewardship Community of Practice grant (2008)
 * USDA International Science and Education (ISE) grant (2010)
 * USDA-NIFA Higher Education Challenge (HEC) grant (2010)
 * USDA-NIFA eXtension Rangelands Stewardship Community of Practice grant (2012)
 * USDA-NIFA-RREA “Discovering our Nation’s Rangelands” grant (2014)

The Technology

 * Data is managed using Drupal 7.x content management system, backed by MySQL 5.1 database
 * Articles can be stored directly into the repository (file upload) or linked via URL
 * Partner repositories are imported or harvested via CSV, RSS, and OAI-PMH
 * Search capabilities are powered by Apache Solr/Lucene that provides faceted browsing capabilities
 * Drupal Organic Groups is used to separate and establish editing roles amongst the different partners’ repositories
 * Future development efforts will allow for importing and exporting via RDF and OAI-PMH
 * Development and Design: University of Arizona, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences, Communications and Cyber Technologies (CCT) department; with assistance from Valeria Pesce (FAO/GFAR)