Agricultural intensification has fragmented rangelands in the Great Plains, which has contributed to uniform and homogeneous landscapes and decreased biodiversity. Alternative land management practices involving fire-grazing interactions can help maintain biodiversity without affecting livestock productivity. A survey was designed to understand the factors that influence preferences among the general population towards grassland landscape heterogeneity. Given the ordinal nature of survey responses, requisite data were analyzed using a generalized ordinal logit model. Results suggested that respondents who valued open space and those who recognized a need for a varying mix of uniform grasses and grasslands preferred landscape heterogeneity. Female respondents were about two times as likely to prefer heterogeneous landscapes compared to male respondents. In contrast, population groups that preferred wildlife habitat did not desire heterogeneous landscapes. Results suggest the need for extension and outreach activities to educate certain segments of the general population regarding benefits of alternative management practices that support landscape heterogeneity in the Great Plains.

About 50% of farmers/ranchers in the PLJV region had heard of the term "playa" or "playa lake" which translates to about 115,000 individual farmers/ranchers in the PLJV region. Across BCRs, landowner awareness (heard of "playa") ranged from a low of 24% in BCR18CO to a high of 90% in BCR18TX.More revealing was the key question inquiring if respondents had playas on the lands they managed. Playa presence ranged from a low of about 8%--that is, 8% of properties had at least one playa lake-in BCR18CO, BCR19KS, and BCR19OK, to a high of 48% in BCR18TX. These survey data yielded an estimate of playa numbers in the PLJV region within the range of 41,000 to 127,000 playas, which easily encompasses playa numbers promoted by the JV of about 60,000.When asked about certain playa functions, about 50% of landowners did not know whether or not playas recharged groundwater. This indicates there is a need to continue to communicate about the link between playas and recharge of the Ogallala Aquifer.Of 13 possible resources that might warrant additional conservation effort, farmers/ranchers said they supported "more conservation than now" for only one-the Ogallala Aquifer. Their second-ranking conservation concern was the Conservation Reserve Program ("same support as now").When asked how willing they would be to implement certain conservation practices if given incentive, 28% of all playa landowners were "highly willing" and 46% were "moderately willing" to plant native grass buffers around playas/wetlands, indicating a significant landowner demand for playa conservation programs.A number of different incentives would be well received by landowners to help improve their management of playas and wetlands. Most popular among landowners-those who have playas, those that do not, and those that don't know-would be if "playa/wetland management helped my bottom line." In fact, the most popular incentive for all types of landowners would be some form of iii financial remuneration, augmented by knowledge that their actions were helping the land/water resources.Predictably, landowners in BCRs in which playas were more common were better able to identify playas as a type of wetland. Moreover, landowners who said they actually had playas on their properties were much more knowledgeable about playa lakes than those who did not have playas on their lands.Looking at farmers/ranchers across the PLJV region, those who said they had playas on their lands said playas and wetlands constituted an overall positive feature (68%), while 25% said playa lakes/wetlands were an overall negative feature. A majority of respondents who indicated they did not have playas on their properties still were prone to characterize playas and wetlands as a positive feature (53%), though a large group (39%) said "don't know."For landowners who said they had playas on their properties-and thought playas were an overall positive presence-the highest-ranking benefit was "attracts wildlife." Ranking second was "recharges groundwater," third was "improves groundwater qualit...

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