Bringing Bird-Friendly Ranching to the Southwest

Albuquerque, New Mexico (June 10, 2026) — The Nationwide Audubon Society’s Audubon Conservation Ranching program now reaches the Southwestern United States with the hires of Nick Beauregard, Ariel Léger, and Isaiah Meza. Working alongside livestock producers in Arizona and New Mexico, the workforce is keen to advance bird-friendly administration practices at ranches throughout the area.  

Employed because the Senior Program Supervisor for Audubon Southwest’s Working Lands initiative, Beauregard has over 15 years of expertise in utilized conservation analysis, stewardship, and group engagement within the Southwest. A resident of Patagonia, Arizona, Beauregard is a lifelong birder and naturalist, with a PhD in biology from Northern Arizona College.  

“My targets within the Southwest are centered on implementing a program that delivers significant, measurable outcomes for fowl habitat in addition to communities who depend on the working lands financial system,” Beauregard stated. “Conservation ranching practices which are tailor-made to our distinctive arid situations have been proven to enhance grassland well being and make ranches extra resilient to environmental stressors like local weather change and drought.” 

Léger and Meza, Program Managers in Arizona and New Mexico, respectively, carry experience in soil well being, rangeland ecology, and hydrogeology to Audubon’s Working Lands workforce. Lifelong New Mexico resident Meza has a grasp’s in environmental science and coverage from Northern Arizona College. Léger, who earned a grasp’s in environmental science on the College of Arizona, has lived in Arizona since early 2018. 

“We’re rolling out this program with quite a lot of humility—searching for to be taught from ranchers, farmers, and land managers—about tips on how to make this system work nicely for this new and distinctive area,” Léger stated. “Conservation ranching is usually a highly effective instrument to guard open landscapes and rangeland ecosystems throughout the Southwest.”  

Since 2017, Audubon Conservation Ranching has been partnering with livestock producers to implement science-based grazing practices that profit birds and ranching operations. At present, greater than 150 ranches and practically 4.5 million acres are licensed as fowl pleasant. Meat bearing the ‘Audubon Licensed Chicken-Pleasant Land’ seal is bought in additional than 2,000 retail shops throughout the US.  

“We expanded this system into the Southwest as a result of the area’s grasslands are each ecologically crucial and beneath heavy strain from drought, fragmentation, invasive crops, and growth,” stated Thomas Schroeder, Audubon Conservation Ranching Partnerships Supervisor. “The way forward for many fowl species and native grassland ecosystems relies upon closely on how grazing lands are managed.” 

Ranching in Arizona and New Mexico presents distinctive challenges as a result of its grasslands are so weak to desertification and degradation. Ecosystems with wholesome soils and perennial grasses enhance water infiltration, scale back erosion, and assist ranches face up to drought. 

“The Southwest has unbelievable potential for conservation and restoration since there are substantial areas of contiguous habitat that haven’t been misplaced to growth,” Meza stated. “Water shortage is the first concern for a lot of producers, conservationists, and managers alike.” 

Audubon’s program is at the moment centered on southern New Mexico and southeast Arizona’s Chihuahuan Grasslands—critically necessary habitat for breeding birds corresponding to Cassin’s Sparrows and Chihuahuan Meadowlarks, and wintering species together with Mountain Plovers and Chestnut-collared Longspurs. Riparian areas, springs, and groundwater-fed wetlands referred to as ciénegas are essential habitats for threatened species just like the Western Yellow-billed Cuckoo. 

Assist from the Nationwide Fish and Wildlife Basis and the Pure Sources Conservation Service made Audubon Conservation Ranching’s growth into Arizona and New Mexico doable. Over the subsequent three years, the workforce plans to certify a minimum of 30 ranches and a minimal of 100,000 acres, whereas concurrently constructing partnerships with ranchers and the group. 

“The Southwest is a mosaic of personal, public, and tribal lands, with boundaries that always don’t conform to pure ecological transitions,” Beauregard stated. “Administration success depends closely on sturdy relationships with many alternative stakeholders representing numerous priorities.” 

For extra details about Audubon Conservation Ranching in Arizona and New Mexico, please contact Nick Beauregard at Nick.Beauregard@Audubon.org. 

About Audubon Conservation Ranching 

Audubon Conservation Ranching companions with ranchers to maintain wholesome grasslands, ample birdlife, and resilient rural communities. By our bird-friendly land certification and science-based method, we empower land stewards to boost habitat, enhance soil well being and water high quality, and strengthen the connection between conservation and ranching. By buying merchandise from Audubon Licensed Chicken-Pleasant Land, customers develop into conservationists, serving to shield America’s grasslands and the birds, wildlife, and people who rely upon them. For extra data, go to www.audubon.org/ranching.