The Joe Skeen Institute for Rangeland Restoration is as consortium of three institutions: Montana State University, New Mexico State University, and Texas A&M University. Funding partners for this consortium include: the USDA Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service and the USDA-USFS Rocky Mountain Research Station.

The institute’s mission is to conduct research and education programs for the purposes of facilitating and expanding ongoing state-federal range management, animal husbandry, and agricultural research, education, and extension programs that enhance sustainable rangeland, livestock, and associated natural resources management systems to meet emerging and future needs of the western United States.

Rangeland comprises more than one-third of the land area in the United States, nearly one billion acres. Examples of these uncultivated lands include prairies, foothill grasslands, mountain meadows, and woodland savannas. Rangelands provide a wealth of products and values, including scenic beauty, bountiful wildlife, open space, clean air and water, countless recreational opportunities, and forage for grazing livestock. Healthy rangelands are vitally important to the social, economic, and environmental health of the nation.