Rangeland

Rangeland includes native plant communities and those seeded to native or introduced
species, or naturalized by introduced species, that are ecologically managed using
range management principles.

Rangeland is a type of land which supports different, uncultivated vegetation types
which can provide the necessities of life for both native and domestic herbivores in a
sustainable fashion. It is a complex relationship between soils, plant communities, and
management, and home to both native and domestic animals.

There are approximately 16.6 billion acres of rangeland worldwide or 51% of the earth’s
surface. Approximately one billion acres of rangeland, pastureland, and forestland
exists in the United States. In Kansas alone there is 15.8 million acres of rangeland, 2.5
million acres of pastureland, 3.1 million acres of Conservation Reserve Program acres,
and 1.7 million acres of forestland.