In 2022, Oklahoma lost 3,632,939 tons of forage due to invasive woody plant encroachment, and Kansas lost 968,908 tons of forage. That same year, PLJV received a three-year National Conservation Innovation Grant from USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service to develop an outreach model to increase brush management and prescribed fire on rangelands by integrating social science insights into communication messages and products. To do this, PLJV staff conducted focus groups and interviews with landowners and producers from six counties in Kansas and Oklahoma with various levels of encroachment in order to understand the motivations, barriers, and future needs regarding managing invasive woody plants.
“This project has allowed us to bring together social science and integrate it into our communication products, which allows for much more impactful messaging,” says PLJV Grassland Conservation Marketing Manager Lindsay Shorter. “By better understanding what motivates landowners to conduct woody plant management practices, and what stands in the way, we’re able to better communicate with and help them maintain healthy grasslands.”
Learn more about the project and access the social science and communication products. Two of the recently released communication tools are highlighted below.
Woody Plant Management Communications Guide and Toolkit
Using social science data, PLJV created a Woody Plant Management Communications Guide and Toolkit to help conservation outreach and delivery staff communicate more effectively with producers about woody plant management. The guide provides communication strategies by audience including intact grassland owners, indigenous land managers, recreational landowners, and non-residential landowners. It also provides best practices for communicating with producers, questions to inform the conversation, and various messages that can be used based on where the landowner currently is along the management spectrum.
The guide also provides access to a toolkit with communication products – such as direct mail postcards, handouts, and social media content – that can be used to encourage woody plant removal and promote grassland health. Some of the products can be downloaded and used as is, while others are available in editable formats that allow organizations to customize for their unique situation.
Tomorrow’s Grassland Website
The TomorrowsGrassland.com website provides a woody plant management portal for agricultural producers and landowners looking to conduct early and ongoing practices to maintain grassland health. The information on the website is a reflection of comments and needs expressed by landowners during the focus groups and interviews. The website brings together information and resources from a variety of partners in Kansas and Oklahoma, including:
- Best management practices for woody plants
- Plant identification & control information
- List of conservation staff who can provide assistance
- Conservation programs that provide technical and financial assistance
- List of contractors that offer management services
- Educational resources