Certification Program

Undaunted Stewardship® Land Certification Program

UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARD Certified Ranches (coming soon)

UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARD Certification recognizes farms and ranches that sustain the long-term productivity and health of Montana's grazing lands. Healthy grazing lands provide a wealth of products and values, from scenic beauty and recreational opportunities, to bountiful wildlife and clean water. Healthy grazing lands also benefit the the range livestock industry, which is a major contributor to Montana's largest economic segment--agriculture. For these reasons, healthy grazing lands are vitally important to the economic and environmental health of Montana.

Certification also demonstrates that Montana's farm and ranch families are preserving Montana's open space and scenic beauty while producing food and fiber using agricultural practices that are environmentally sustainable.

Why do ranch families participate as UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS?

Montana ranch families are proud of their generations of stewardship and of all it entails--proud that the vast landscapes they own and manage still look more as they did when Lewis & Clark saw them than virtually any other lands in America--and they want them to stay that way.
The certification process for UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS, conducted with the assistance of range management specialists at Montana State University, gives ranch families tools to help keep improving their land management--often resulting in measurable increases in naturally sustained productivity, benefiting both livestock production as well as fish and wildlife populations.
The certification process produces a written grazing plan for participating ranches that applies state-of-the-science range management practices on a site-specific basis. This elevates confidence and quality-control, which makes it easier for families to monitor and track environmental progress.
Certification as an UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARD helps families accurately monitor and forecast range conditions, allowing steadily improved stewardship. This delivers heightened promise that natural land productivity will be sustainable.
UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS become local-area model operations, inspiring improved stewardship on an increasing amount of privately-owned rangeland in Montana.
Certification provides a mechanism for Montana ranch families to collectively demonstrate to the public how modern ranching delivers positive environmental benefits--to fish and wildlife, to open space preservation, water quality and other resources--far beyond its significance to high-quality food production.
Certified farms and ranches are eligible for Historical Site Preservation Agreements, another component of Undaunted Stewardship®.

Who is eligible for certification?
Certification as an UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARD is available statewide to farms and ranches with grazing lands. To be eligible, farms and ranches must be classified as agricultural land by the State of Montana (generally parcels of 160 acres or more).

How does a farm or ranch become certified?
Certification is completely voluntary and obtaining assistance is only a phone call away. Contact the MSU College Of Agriculture (406) 994-3415 and mention your interest in UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARD certification. A MSU Range Scientist will contact you and schedule a visit to your ranch to help prepare your confidential grazing plan.

Not having a management plan or not meeting all of the Stewardship Standards is no reason to dismiss proceeding through the certification process.

UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS receive a wooden plaque and a metal roadside sign. UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS also are recognized in Undaunted Stewardship® promotional materials.

Farms and ranches need to be re-certified every five years by submitting an updated grazing land management plan.

Stewardship Standards of UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS
UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS use state-of-the-science management practices that maintain or enhance environmental values of grazing lands such as open space, clean water, fish and wildlife, and scenic beauty.

UNDAUNTED LAND STEWARDS pledge to adhere to the three Stewardship Standards listed below: Stewardship Standard 1. Compliance with Laws and Undaunted Stewardship® Principles
1.1 Grazing land management demonstrates a long-term commitment to the environmental ethic embodied within Undaunted Stewardship®.
1.2 Grazing land management respects all local, state, and federal laws and regulations.

Stewardship Standard 2. Grazing Management Plan and Environmental Impacts
2.1 A written grazing management plan exists and is kept up to date.
2.2 Fish and wildlife needs--for food, water, shelter, and space--are recognized and balanced with livestock grazing needs. Management recognizes the value of rare, threatened and endangered species.
2.3 The timing and intensity of livestock grazing is in balance with the land's ecological capacity.
Grazing is planned and controlled to promote sustained vegetative productivity, healthy and diverse plant communities, and adequate ground cover to minimize soil erosion and surface water runoff.
2.4 Surface waters receive no direct runoff from corrals and drylots. Contaminants from these sites are filtered through vegetative buffers.
2.5 Noxious weeds are absent, rare, or actively controlled.
2.6 Historical sites and historical landscape values are maintained or enhanced.

Stewardship Standard 3. Monitoring and Assessment
3.1 Landowners conduct annual monitoring to assess environmental impacts and effectiveness of grazing management practices.
3.2 Monitoring procedures enable landowners to assess changes over time.
3.3 Monitoring results are incorporated when management plans are revised.