From 2006 to 2010, the Grassland Foundation in collation with the UNL Center for Great Plains Studies sponsored an annual lecture on Grassland Conservation & Sustainable Communities. Four of those lectures are archived below.
Collaborating Across Fences: Law’s Role in Managing Wildlife Resources in Ranch Country
Presented by Professor Anthony Schutz from the UNL College of Law
October 27, 2010
| Great Plains Art Museum
- Click to Watch Lecture
The Grassland Foundation’s 5th annual lecture in Grassland Conservation & Sustainable Communities was held at the UNL Center for Great Plains Studies at 12th & Q Street in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday, October 27th, in the afternoon. The speaker, Anthony Schutz, J.D., is a 2003 graduate of the UNL College of Law and joined the UNL Law faculty in 2006. The product of a farm family in Elwood, Nebraska, Professor Schutz’s research interests include the often intertwined subjects of agricultural law, environmental and natural resources law, and state and local government.
Professor Schutz discussed his recent travels in Namibia and his just published article: Grassland Governance and Common-Interest Communities. The article provides groundbreaking insights and legal analysis for how private ranches on the plains can work together to provide many of the same benefits public lands provide, while maintaining private property rights, the ranching heritage and live-stock production. His work provides a private property rights response to the so-called “Buffalo Commons”.
Watch the lecture here and read more about the presentation on our News & Media page.
Global Developments in Private Conservation: Do They Apply to the Northern Great Plains?
Presented by Dr. Jefferey Langholz from the Monterey Institute of International Studies
April 1st, 2009 | Great Plains Art Museum
- Click to Watch Lecture
The Grassland Foundation’s 4th annual lecture in Grassland Conservation & Sustainable Communities was be held at the UNL Center for Great Plains Studies at 12th & Q Street in Lincoln, Nebraska on Wednesday April 1st, 2009. The speaker was Jeff Langholz, Ph.D., a professor at the Monterey Institute of International Studies in California and noted scholar on global private lands conservation. Dr. Langholz holds a Ph.D. from Cornell University and an undergraduate degree from Dana College in Blair, Nebraska. Dr. Langholz grew up in western Iowa.
Like grasslands worldwide, the Northern Great Plains face a variety of threats and an uncertain future. A large scale government-led conservation effort such as a network of national parks or other publicly protected areas seems unlikely to develop, which has led to rising interest in potential private sector solutions. Fortunately, recent decades have witnessed an explosion of private conservation efforts worldwide resulting in an immense diversity of approaches and a growing body of lessons learned. This presentation positions the Great Northern Plains in the context of the larger global private conservation trend. Using examples from Latin America, Africa, Australia, and elsewhere, it reviews international private conservation developments, describes creative private conservation approaches, and discusses potential applications to the Northern Great Plains.
Watch the lecture here and read more about the presentation on our News & Media page.
Wildlife & Sustainable Rural Development in Namibia:
Are There Applications to the Northern Great Plains?
Presented by Chris Weaver, Managing Director at World Wildlife Fund-Namibia
March 25, 2008
| Great Plains Art Museum
- Click to Watch Lecture
Chris Weaver, the Managing Director of the World Wildlife Fund-Namibia program delivered the Third Annual Grassland Foundation lecture in Grassland Conservation & Sustainable Communities at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln Great Plains Art Museum on Tuesday, March 25.
The presentation dealt with the development of various conservation models in Namibia that have led to a large increase in wildlife numbers and an improvement in rural livelihoods from hunting, nature-based tourism and other activities. Weaver suggested that private agreements among neighboring landowners similar to those used in Namibia may be applicable to private grazing areas of the Northern Plains because they provide a private property based approach to creating scale for better wildlife management and for creating better marketing opportunities for multiple uses of grasslands. In Namibia at least a successful nature based tourism operation will earn significantly more money than grazing livestock alone.
Watch the video here and its associated PowerPoint version is available for download here.
Can the Path be Altered? Salvaging and Renewing Communities of the Rural Plains
Presented by Dr. Larry Swanson, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana
April 12, 2007
| Great Plains Art Museum
- Click to Watch Lecture
Dr. Larry Swanson, Director of the Center for the Rocky Mountain West at the University of Montana, delivered the second-annual lecture on “Grassland Conservation and Sustainable Communities” on Thursday, April 12, 2007. Dr. Swanson’s message that there is hope for rural communities if we act aggressively and immediately was heard by a crowd of 140 at the Great Plains Art Museum in Lincoln, NE.
Watch the video here and its associated PowerPoint version is available for download here.
