Land stewards in the Audubon Conservation Ranching program support some of North America’s most important bird habitat. However, the producers stewarding this critical habitat are often spread across vast distances, managing complex operations with limited access to peer networks or trusted conservation guidance. Many producers are interested in bird-friendly land management but face barriers to participation, including navigating technical assistance programs, understanding financial incentives, and finding examples of practices that work in real-world ranching systems.  

As our Audubon Conservation Ranching program expands rapidly across Texas, it has become clear that program growth alone is not enough. To achieve lasting, landscape-scale impact aligned with Audubon’s Flight Plan, we need stronger connectivity among producers and clearer pathways for new landowners to engage with the program. Without intentional investment in connection and information sharing, conservation outcomes risk remaining isolated rather than compounding across regions.  

 In 2025, Audubon responded by launching HerdsForBirds.com, a Texas producer-focused platform designed to connect landowners to one another and to the Audubon Conservation Ranching program. Built with working producers in mind, the site serves as a central hub for communication, shared learning, and program engagement across a geographically dispersed network.  

The Audubon Texas team developed HerdsForBirds.com to address the long-standing need for accessible, relevant tools that support decision-making on the ground. The platform provides a space for producers to exchange ideas, learn from peers, access their program documents, and stay informed about opportunities and updates from ACR. It also houses the Texas Landowner Toolkit, which consolidates financial and technical assistance resources available statewide. Land managers from across the state can now filter programs by their county, helping them easily find relevant programs and reduce barriers to participation.  

By prioritizing accessibility and producer-to-producer learning, this approach extends Audubon’s impact beyond certified ranches alone. HerdsForBirds invites new landowners into conservation by meeting them where they are, opening the door to new ideas and new conservation program resources. Often this first step is all it takes, and with this new tool we fly onward toward our Flight-Plan goals, accelerating the adoption of bird-friendly practices across working lands.  

 This investment in connectivity coincided with a year of extraordinary program growth. In 2025, Audubon range ecologists nearly doubled the number of Audubon Conservation Ranching–certified operations in the state, adding 13 ranches representing 363,044 additional acres managed with bird-friendly grazing and habitat practices. The Texas program now includes 27 certified ranches encompassing 437,487 acres of working grasslands under improved management.  

HerdsForBirds positions these gains for deeper and more durable impact as the program moves into 2026. By strengthening relationships with existing producers and expanding access to conservation resources statewide, the platform supports continued growth without sacrificing program quality or ecological outcomes. It also lays the groundwork for increased monitoring and adaptive management, ensuring that conservation practices are informed by data and responsive to on-the-ground conditions. As we look ahead, producer connectivity will remain a cornerstone of our conservation strategy with the ACR program in Texas. We will continue to strive to transform individual successes into a connected network of land stewards. Together, the Audubon Conservation Ranching program and its’ land stewards are creating lasting, landscape-scale impacts that benefit birds and the grasslands they depend on.