Original ResearchCoping With Historic Drought in California Rangelands: Developing a More Effective Institutional Response

On the Ground
- Drought response is widely varied depending on both the characteristics of the drought and the ability of individual ranchers to respond.
- Assistance from institutions during drought has not typically considered preemptive, during, and post-drought response as a strategic approach, which recognizes biophysical, sociological, and economic complexities of drought.
- A USDA Southwest Climate Hub-sponsored workshop brought together a range of representatives from public and private institutions with drought response responsibilities to examine how those institutions could better support drought decision-making.
- Institutions can greatly improve their support for individual land managers by doing more systematic collecting and organizing of drought-related information as a basis for programs, and by collaborating to enhance both institutional and individual learning.