Conservation Ranching

Working with landowners to support better bird habitat.
Bobcat Ranch in Yolo County, California. Photo: Sydney Walsh/Audubon

Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly Land

Audubon Conservation Ranching aims to stabilize declining grassland bird populations in partnership with farmers and ranchers. 

Why farmers and ranchers? The majority of grassland birds–whose populations have declined by more than 40 percent in the last 50 years–inhabit privately owned land. This is where we scale our impact.

Landowners voluntarily enroll in our program, and when they meet requirements centering on habitat management, environmental sustainability, and animal welfare, they earn the Audubon Bird-Friendly Land certification. Nationwide, more than 100 ranches and nearly 3 million acres have earned status as Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly Land

Consumers with an appetite for conservation support these bird-friendly habitats. A special package designation – the Audubon Certified Bird-Friendly seal – lets shoppers know which beef or bison products come from these lands managed for birds and biodiversity. 

About Conservation Ranching
For Retailers and Institutions
For Retailers and Institutions

Learn why you should carry products that meet the desires of your eco-conscious customers.

Our Team
A person with a light beard, wearing a blue ball cap and dark-framed eyeglasses, looks at the camera

Nat Miller

Senior Director, Wings Over Working Lands

Christopher Wilson

Program Director, Audubon Conservation Ranching

Anthony Hauck

Communications Director, Wings Over Working Lands

Thomas Schroeder

Senior Partnerships Manager, Audubon Conservation Ranching

William Walker VI

William Walker VI

Senior Business Development Manager, Audubon Conservation Ranching

Margo Rosenbaum

Communications Associate, Wings Over Working Lands

Two Western Meadowlarks perch on a barbed wire fence with cattle grazing in the background.
Bipartisan RANCH Act Offers New Opportunities for Working Lands Conservation
August 19, 2026 — Legislation would support farmers and ranchers, improve bird habitat, and bolster rural economies through voluntary conservation
Wisconsin Farms & Ranches Earn Audubon Bird-Friendly Land Certification
August 19, 2026 — Seven new Wisconsin producers are managing their acres for birds and biodiversity
Uplifting BIPOC Youth in Conservation Science, Regenerative Farming and Ranching
August 18, 2026 — Audubon joined FrontLine Farming’s Black Teen Cultivators in Denver for a two-day event centered on bird conservation and regenerative ranching.
A male Bobolink perched in a field of tall grasses with yellow flowers.
Audubon Pilots Adopt-a-Flyway Recognition Program to Enhance 700 acres of Migratory Bird Habitat in Minnesota
July 28, 2026 — Minnesota provides key stopover and breeding habitat for the more than 325 bird species that travel along the Mississippi Flyway every spring.
Birds That Depend on Grasslands
Bobolink
Dolichonyx oryzivorus
Blackbirds and Orioles
Chestnut-collared Longspur
Calcarius ornatus
Longspurs and Snow Buntings
Greater Prairie-Chicken
Tympanuchus cupido
Pheasants and Grouse
American Golden-Plover
Pluvialis dominica
Plovers