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 neighborhood 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 hen 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 circumstances 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, convey 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 study from ranchers, farmers, and land managers—about the way to make this system work properly for this new and distinctive area,” Léger stated. “Conservation ranching is usually a highly effective device 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 this time, greater than 150 ranches and upwards of 4.5 million acres are licensed as hen pleasant. Meat bearing the ‘Audubon Licensed Fowl-Pleasant Land’ seal is offered in additional than 2,000 retail shops throughout the USA.
Partnering with ranchers within the Southwest was a pure development for Audubon; roughly 80-90% of Arizona and New Mexico is rangeland. Land administration on this primarily arid area is dictated by water shortage and unpredictable rainfall.
“We expanded this system into the Southwest as a result of the area’s grasslands are each ecologically important and beneath heavy strain from drought, fragmentation, invasive crops, and growth,” stated Thomas Schroeder, Audubon Conservation Ranching Partnerships Supervisor. “The way forward for many hen 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 susceptible to desertification and degradation. Ecosystems with wholesome soils and perennial grasses enhance water infiltration, cut back erosion, and assist ranches stand 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 presently centered on southern New Mexico and southeast Arizona’s Chihuahuan Grasslands—critically essential habitat for breeding birds comparable 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.
Help from the Nationwide Fish and Wildlife Basis and the Pure Sources Conservation Service made Audubon Conservation Ranching’s enlargement into Arizona and New Mexico attainable. Over the subsequent three years, the workforce plans to certify not less than 30 ranches and a minimal of 100,000 acres, whereas concurrently constructing partnerships with ranchers and the neighborhood.
“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 robust 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 way of our bird-friendly land certification and science-based method, we empower land stewards to reinforce habitat, enhance soil well being and water high quality, and strengthen the connection between conservation and ranching. By buying merchandise from Audubon Licensed Fowl-Pleasant Land, customers change into conservationists, serving to shield America’s grasslands and the birds, wildlife, and people who rely on them. For extra data, go to www.audubon.org/ranching.
