Working collaboratively to develop a drought plan to support ranch management and wildlife conservation

Introduction

This case study describes the process of developing a drought plan for a pilot project integrating agave restoration for threatened nectar-feeding bats into private lands and rangeland management in the Southwestern United States. The drought plan is for a 3,200 acre ranch in southwestern New Mexico that is a mixture of private and BLM lands. It was a collaborative effort involving a ranch in southwestern New Mexico, Bat Conservation International’s (BCI’s) Agave Restoration Initiative, and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). The plan was developed from February to June 2026 by a small planning team consisting of the ranch owner and manager, the U.S. Agave Restoration Coordinator from BCI, a wildlife biologist from the BLM, and a hydrologist with Ecoimpact Solutions.

The goal of this plan was to integrate the ranch’s operational priorities, drought resilience needs, and long-term land stewardship goals with habitat restoration and conservation objectives for migratory nectar-feeding bats. By integrating drought preparedness with agave restoration, the plan highlights opportunities to support working lands while also improving habitat conditions for wildlife that depend on healthy arid rangeland ecosystems.

As a pilot effort, this project demonstrates how drought management planning can create shared benefits for ranchers, conservation partners, and public land agencies. It also provides a practical example for other private landowners interested in strengthening ranch resilience while contributing to broader conservation goals across the Southwest.

Project Origins

Bat Conservation International’s Agave Restoration Initiative works to restore native agaves and reconnect a climate-resilient migratory “nectar corridor” for three species of threatened nectar-feeding bats—including the endangered Mexican long-nosed bat—across the Southwestern U.S. and Mexico. These bats rely on agave nectar as a critical food source during migration, and agave plants are the sole natural nectar source that sustain mother bats and their babies in southwestern New Mexico. This region is expected to become increasingly important for these bats under climate change (Cappelli et al. 2021). As the Agave Restoration Initiative has expanded into the Sky Islands Grasslands of Arizona and New Mexico, BCI has built on its landscape-scale restoration approach by further integrating restoration of native grasses, functioning soils, water infiltration, and sustainable grazing practices into agave habitat restoration.

Given this broader restoration context, the drought management plan offered a way to connect agave habitat restoration and bat conservation goals with the ranch’s operational needs and long-term resilience. Rather than treating ranch management and wildlife conservation as separate goals, the planning process was designed to identify shared strategies that could support ranch operations, improve grassland and watershed health, and enhance agave habitat for nectar-feeding bats.

Drought Context

The exceptional 2025 drought in New Mexico and Arizona, coupled with agave plantings led by BCI at the ranch in 2025, prompted the development of this drought plan. The drought resulted in unprecedented grass-banking requests from a neighboring ranch, highlighting the need for a formal decision-making framework to guide future drought response.

Funding the Development of the Drought Plan

BCI secured funds from the Carroll Petrie Foundation and Regina Bauer Frankenberg Foundation to support this project. BCI hired Ecoimpact Solutions to facilitate, coordinate, and write all plan components, including videos, decision calendars, data analysis, and mapping. Costs associated with developing the drought plan included staff time for project coordination, stakeholder engagement, site visits, data collection and analysis, facilitation, technical writing, and plan development. The planning process also benefited from in-kind contributions from project partners, including participation in meetings, technical expertise, and review of draft materials.

Planning Partners

Associated Worksheet: Who's on Your Planning Team?

The drought plan was developed through a partnership between Bat Conservation International, Ecoimpact Solutions, and the Bureau of Land Management (Las Cruces District Office), with active participation from the ranch owner and manager. Additional input was provided by the New Mexico Department of Wildlife (formerly New Mexico Department of Game and Fish), neighboring land managers, and subject matter experts in grazing, restoration, and drought planning. In addition to the core team, the project also included input from technical contributors. This included experts from New Mexico State University, BLM, UC Davis, the National Drought Mitigation Center, the USDA Agricultural Research Service, the U.S. Geological Survey, and Ziegler Hydrologic Consulting.

Process of Developing the Drought Plan

BCI hired Ecoimpact Solutions to lead the team through a drought planning process using the general framework developed by the National Drought Mitigation Center. Because this pilot effort centered on biodiversity enhancement and agave restoration on working rangelands, the worksheets and exercises were adapted to better reflect wildlife conservation goals within a ranching context. Given the varied geographic locations of the team, the planning process was completed virtually through a series of facilitated discussions, supplemented by a site visit and assessment and discussion of drought scenarios, water resources, wildfire risk, and habitat conditions.

Sample meeting schedule and goals for preparing the drought plan

Resources and Tools Used to Develop the Plan

The team used a variety of drought related data to inform decisions, which included:

The monitoring data described above were incorporated into the following decision frameworks (see plan for these frameworks):

• a rainfall-based decision calendar
• a grass-banking plan
• a catastrophic wildfire plan

The team also used:

• Maps of the area showing locations of wells, precipitation, vegetation. Mapping vegetation changes was less helpful than expected in developing the plan.
• A prior hydrologic survey and vegetation survey that were somewhat helpful.
• A seedlot selection tool to predict what future plants would fare well at the ranch.

Much of the information for the resource inventory came from conversations with the BLM, BCI and the rancher. To inform the resource inventory, the group used some of the questions from the NDMC Ranch Plan Inventory sheets but modified them to fit the location and context.

Outcomes

The primary outcome of this project was the development of a practical, science-based drought plan that integrates habitat restoration, wildlife conservation, and adaptive land management. The plan established clear monitoring indicators, drought triggers, and management actions to help guide future decisions under changing conditions. It provides a pathway to build longer-term resilience, as well as actions to take during drought.

Because the plan was recently completed, ecological impacts have not yet been quantified. The desired future condition is a more resilient landscape that supports native grasslands, healthy riparian areas, pollinators and bats, and sustainable land management despite increasing drought stress.

Next Steps

Additional monitoring and restoration efforts are being planned for the ranch. The next phase of the project will focus on implementing the priority actions identified in the drought plan. Anticipated activities include installing wildlife-friendly fencing to protect riparian areas, expanding agave restoration, implementing low-tech erosion control structures, monitoring vegetation and wildlife responses, and pursuing funding to support these efforts. Continued collaboration among Bat Conservation International, the Bureau of Land Management, the ranch owner and manager, the New Mexico Department of Wildlife, researchers, and other conservation partners will be essential for implementation, monitoring, and adaptive management. The project is a model for integrating drought planning with habitat restoration on other working lands across the Southwest.

General Recommendations and Takeaways

• Accept that uncertainty is part of the process. Address uncertainty by using multiple sources of information to guide or inform specific decisions.
• It is possible to develop a strong plan using well-constructed virtual meetings.
• The process typically used for livestock production can work for other goals and values, like wildlife habitat and ecological restoration.
• Collaboration was supported through regular meetings, a site visit, open communication, and a shared commitment to integrating habitat restoration, working lands management, and drought resilience. Engaging partners early in the planning process helped strengthen the plan and identify opportunities for future implementation. The challenge of coordinating with busy partners was addressed by conducting a focused site visit, using focused virtual meetings, and making efficient use of participants’ time while incorporating their local knowledge throughout the planning process.
• Consider reviewing the NDMC drought planning pages as a place to start, and then modify the process, as needed.
• Keep adapting and building on your plan as needed.

For more information, please contact Kristen Lear or Emile Elias.

Literature Cited

Cappelli, M. P., Blakey, R. V., Taylor, D., Flanders, J., Badeen, T., Butts, S., ... & Rebelo, H. (2021). Limited refugia and high velocity range-shifts predicted for bat communities in drought-risk areas of the Northern Hemisphere. Global Ecology and Conservation, 28, e01608.