Pastoralism

at the Utah Theater in downtown Logan.

And this is a film festival centered around a United Nations designation for 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists.

Sounds fancy, right? Well, they have to make these things sound fancy, but what we're actually talking about here is basically recognizing the importance of ranching, cattle grazing practices, not just here in the United States, not just in the Intermountain West, where it's a very prevalent practice and way of life for people, but throughout the world.

Ranching and grazing is something that is done in some aspect, in some way, in every country, on every continent, and without it, our entire food supply changes pretty abruptly, actually, and not in a good way.

And they'll be here in our studio later on today.

Lane Coppock, Professor Emeritus at Utah State University in the Department of Wildland Resources, will be joining us with friends here in the studio.

I've linked to this on our Facebook page, but you can also check out this International Year of Rangelands as a global event via the link I've posted on our Facebook page, which is IYRP.info. International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, IYRP, IYRP.info. You can see some of the video highlights of events that have already taken place this year around the globe.

And also, this was really cool.

Hundreds of participants are competing in horse races and horseback wrestling, falconry, and archery, among other events.

Meanwhile, over the preceding two weeks, at a conference in Mongolia, where about a third of the population is nomadic, pastoralists from around the world advocated for rights to public grazing lands and freer movement.

The United Nations has designated 2026 as the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, a sign of the movement to recognize pastoralists' roles and rights as contributing citizens and sources of practical expertise and cultural pride.

It denotes an evolving humility and respect among governments and scientists who are seeking ways to incorporate the traditional approaches into a modern system long defined by distinct boundaries, increasing urbanization, and regulated resource access.

The Mongolia meeting, Lamont pointed out last month, marked a shift from viewing nomadic groups and their practices as a driver of land degradation to recognizing their many benefits, maintaining landscapes, preserving biodiversity, preventing fires, adding value to regions, and enabling adaptation to climate change.

Our speakers were Elliot Convery Fisher, research fellow in the Socioecology of Fire Management at the Royal Botanic Garden, Edinburgh, who's a conservation social scientist whose work is currently focused on shaping fire management across protected areas in Madagascar, and Kevin Kerkmann, professor in the School of Agriculture and Science at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, who studies many aspects of grassland ecology and management, including research on grazing, fire, and restoration.

The event was part of our engagement with the International Year of Rangelands and Pastoralists, 2026.

For more in this series, visit our website, repairproject.org, and go to the section on rangeland myths.

[gentle music] Um, today we will be discussing what I think is the seventh myth of the year, uh, fire is the enemy, or more specifically, fire is the enemy of rangelands.