**AWARDS ISSUED PRIOR TO JANUARY 20, 2025, WERE FUNDED UNDER PREVIOUS ADMINISTRATIONS AND MAY NOT REFLECT THE PRIORITIES AND POLICIES OF THE CURRENT ADMINISTRATION.** AGRICULTURAL SYSTEMS ARE FREQUENTLY IN CONFLICT WITH THE PROVISION OF ECOSYSTEM SERVICES, PRODUCING TIGHT COUPLING BETWEEN SOCIO-ECONOMIC DYNAMICS OF AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTION AND ECOSYSTEM PROCESSES. SUCH COUPLING HAS BEEN ESPECIALLY PROMINENT IN THE COLD SEMI-ARID DESERTS OF THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME OF THE NORTH AMERICAN WEST. LIVESTOCK GRAZING AND ASSOCIATED CROPS ARE THE PRIMARY AGRICULTURAL ACTIVITY IN THIS REGION. WHILE INDUSTRIAL ENERGY AND MINERAL EXTRACTION HAVE INCREASINGLY CONTRIBUTED TO LOCAL ECONOMIES IN RECENT DECADES (ALLRED ET AL. 2015), SOCIOCULTURAL IDENTITIES IN RURAL AREAS ARE PREDOMINANTLY ASSOCIATED WITH RANCHING AND MORE GENERALLY, NATURAL RESOURCES USE AND EXTRACTION (COLLINS 2019, LIND 2015). THERE ARE SIGNIFICANT EXTERNAL DRIVERS THAT SHAPE LAND USE POLICY IN THIS REGION INCLUDING CLIMATE CHANGE, ENDANGERED SPECIES PROTECTIONS, AND WATER AVAILABILITY. THE GOAL OF OUR PROPOSED INTEGRATED RESEARCH SEEKS TO ENHANCE OUR UNDERSTANDING OF HOW EXTERNAL DRIVERS AND RANGE MANAGEMENT AFFECT THE INTERRELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN IMPROVING RANGE PRODUCTIVITY, ECOSYSTEM HEALTH, AND THE SOCIO-ECONOMIC OUTCOMES IN MANAGED SAGEBRUSH RANGELANDS.SAGEBRUSH IS AN ICONIC PLANT OF WESTERN US RANGELANDS. IT PROVIDES ECONOMIC, ECOLOGICAL, AND SOCIETAL VALUES INCLUDING LIVESTOCK FORAGE, WILDLIFE FORAGE AND COVER, CLEAN AIR AND WATER, CARBON SEQUESTRATION, AND AESTHETICS. IN TURN, SAGEBRUSH RANGELANDS SUSTAIN THOUSANDS OF WESTERN RANCHES AND RURAL COMMUNITIES, PROVIDING LANDSCAPE CONTINUITY IN PLACE OF FURTHER FRAGMENTATION. SEVERAL SPECIES OF WILDLIFE REQUIRE SAGEBRUSH RANGELANDS FOR SURVIVAL, INCLUDING SAGE-GROUSE. SAGE-GROUSE HISTORICALLY INHABITED MUCH OF THE WESTERN US AND PORTIONS OF SOUTHERN ALBERTA AND SOUTHEASTERN BRITISH COLUMBIA (CRAWFORD ET AL. 2004, SCHROEDER ET AL. 2004). SAGE-GROUSE POPULATIONS HAVE BEEN DECLINING THROUGHOUT MUCH OF THIS RANGE SINCE THE 1960S (CONNELLY ET AL. 2000, COATES ET AL. 2021), AND IN 2010 SAGE-GROUSE WAS DEEMED A CANDIDATE FOR FUTURE PROTECTIONS UNDER THE ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT (ESA). SINCE THEN, A COLLABORATION OF FEDERAL AND STATE AGENCIES, PRIVATE LANDOWNERS, AND OTHERS HAVE EXERTED A CONCERTED EFFORT TO CONSERVE THE SPECIES AND ITS HABITAT. IN 2015, THE U.S. FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICE (USFWS) DECIDED LISTING THE SAGE-GROUSE WAS NOT WARRANTED, CITING THE EXTENSIVE CONSERVATION MEASURES THAT HAD BEEN IMPLEMENTED BY THE COLLABORATIVE (USFWS 2015).THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME REPRESENTS ONE OF THE LARGEST AND LEAST UNDERSTOOD BIOMES IN THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES AND IS CONNECTED TO SOME OF THE FASTEST GROWING HUMAN POPULATION CENTERS IN THE COUNTRY. CURRENTLY, ONLY HALF OF THE HISTORICAL DISTRIBUTION OF SAGEBRUSH PERSISTS, AND WHAT REMAINS HAS BEEN COMPROMISED BY INVASIVE VEGETATION, INCREASED FIRE FREQUENCY AND ANTHROPOGENIC DEVELOPMENT (COATES ET AL. 2021). COMBINED, THESE THREATS PROVIDE A FORMIDABLE CHALLENGE IN SUSTAINING RURAL RANCHING COMMUNITIES WHILE PRIORITIZING CONSERVATION THAT ARE MOST EFFECTIVE TO IMPROVE RESILIENCY OF THE BIOME.ONE WAY TO SUSTAIN RESILIENCY OF LARGE HEALTHY STANDS OF SAGEBRUSH IS TO MAINTAIN RANCHING AS A PRIMARY LAND-USE, PROVIDED RANCH MANAGERS APPLY LOCALLY-ADAPTED LIVESTOCK GRAZING STRATEGIES THAT ARE ECOLOGICALLY, ECONOMICALLY, AND SOCIALLY SUSTAINABLE (CRAWFORD ET AL. 2004, DAVIES ET AL. 2011, BOYD ET AL. 2014, SMITH ET AL. 2018). LIGHT TO MODERATE STOCKING RATES (AUM/HA) AND LOW TO MODERATE LIVESTOCK DENSITIES (AU/HA) CAN CREATE AND MAINTAIN LANDSCAPE-SCALE MOSAICS OF PLANT SUCCESSIONAL STAGES AND VEGETATIVE STRUCTURE THAT FAVOR SAGE-GROUSE (MOSLEY AND BREWER 2006).THERE IS A NEED FOR RESILIENCE-BASED MANAGEMENT OF THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME. INTEGRATION OF SCIENCE ABOUT THE HUMANS AND COMMUNITIES THAT LIVE WITHIN THE SAGEBRUSH SYSTEM IS LACKING, INCLUDING: QUANTIFIABLE ECONOMICS RELATED TO LIVESTOCK PRODUCTION, AND QUALITATIVE COMPONENTS SUCH AS SENSE OF PLACE, COMMUNITY SECURITY, AND ANXIETY FROM THE CONTEMPORARY THREAT OF LITIGATION OR POLICY CHANGES.COMMUNITY MOTIVATIONS, INCENTIVES, AND BEHAVIORS TO ADAPT TO SHIFTING PUBLIC POLICIES RELATING TO NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION VARY SUBSTANTIALLY. IN THIS CONTEXT, THREATS TO THE SAGEBRUSH ECOSYSTEM CAN MANIFEST IN HUMAN DIMENSIONS IN THE FORM OF INCREASED STRESS, IMPACTS TO MORALE AND COHESION, INTERGENERATIONAL CHANGE AFFECTING MANAGEMENT AND LAND-USE, AND PERCEIVED CONSTRAINTS ON LIVELIHOOD SCENARIOS. EFFECTS TO EACH SCALE WITHIN THE HUMAN COMMUNITIES -- INDIVIDUALS, FAMILIES, ORGANIZATIONS -- MANIFEST IN RELATION TO HOW SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC RELATIONSHIPS EMERGE BASED ON PUBLIC LANDS MANAGEMENT.THE ECONOMIC IMPACTS OF FEDERAL MANAGEMENT DECISIONS REGARDING NATURAL RESOURCES SIGNIFICANTLY INFLUENCE THE BUSINESSES AND INDIVIDUALS IN THE SURROUNDING COMMUNITIES. THESE LINKAGES MEAN THAT RESOURCE PRODUCTION GENERATES JOBS AND INCOME NOT ONLY IN THE AGRICULTURE SECTOR, BUT ALSO IN OTHER SECTORS IN THE LOCAL ECONOMY THAT SUPPORT THE NATURAL RESOURCE SECTOR OR SERVE EMPLOYEE HOUSEHOLDS. PREVIOUS STUDIES LINKING NATURAL RESOURCE CONSERVATION (E.G., SAGE-GROUSE CONSERVATION) AND NATURAL RESOURCE ECONOMICS (E.G., RANGE MANAGEMENT) HAVE FAILED TO IMPLEMENT INTEGRATED APPROACHES THAT CONTEXTUALIZE SOCIAL BEHAVIORS AND ATTITUDES WITHIN SOCIAL-ECOLOGICAL SYSTEMSWE PLAN TO DEVELOP AN INTEGRATED, COHESIVE FRAMEWORK TO EXAMINE THE INTERACTIONS OF THE SOCIO-ECOLOGICAL-AGROECOSYSTEM IN THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME. OUR FRAMEWORK WILL ALLOW USTO CONCEPTUALIZE AND FRAME THE THREATS TO THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME AND RURAL COMMUNITIES THEREIN. FURTHER, WE WILL PREDICTOUTCOMES OF A CONSERVATION ACTION (I.E., GRAZING MANAGEMENT) ALONG A GRADIENT IN THE WEST, AND EXAMINE THE LINKAGES OF SOCIAL AND ECONOMIC CAPITAL RESULTING FROM LOCAL ECOLOGICAL CONDITIONS. WE WILL EXAMINE THE EFFECT OF A SUITE OF CONSERVATION ACTIONS OR DISTURBANCES IN THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME ON RURALECONOMICS, ECOLOGY, AND SOCIETY. GIVEN THE NOVELTY OF OUR WORK, WE WILL FOCUS OUR SCOPE ON GRAZING MANAGEMENT AND ITS LINKAGES TO WILDLIFE HABITAT QUALITY (I.E.,SAGE-GROUSE HABITAT) AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC CAPITAL AS A CASE STUDY IN INTEGRATING SOCIAL, ECONOMIC, AND ECOLOGICAL MODELS AS THEY RELATE TO A GRADIANT OF ECOLOGICAL CONDIAITONS.