Nearly 700K Acres in Panorama Organic Rancher Network Recognized as Audubon Bird-Friendly Habitat- 17K Acres on Montana Ranches

Panorama Organic earns Audubon Certified bird-friendly package designation!

The National Audubon Society has certified all 21 family ranches in the Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats® network – spanning 690,902 acres of grassland habitat – as bird-friendly–groundwork resulting from the largest market-based conservation partnership in the country. The collective of ranches initiated large-scale habitat improvements for birds and other wildlife by enrolling in Audubon’s Conservation Ranching initiative. With the certification, beef products from Panorama Organic will carry the Audubon Certified seal, a package designation for consumers that identifies a product’s origin from lands managed for birds and biodiversity.

In Montana, this includes nearly 16,976 acres of  three Panorama Ranches certified as “bird-friendly”.  To achieve this conservation work the Montana Audubon science team has visited each ranch regularly collecting information to write ranch-specific Habitat Management Plans (HMPs).  Montana Audubon staff also spent this spring collecting baseline bird monitoring data on each ranch to inform and test the efficacy of these HMPs.  This required early mornings of hiking, intense concentration, and grappling with the elements–from mountain storms, to muck, to negotiating barbed-wire fences and avoiding rattlesnakes.

Panorama Organic beef products featuring the Audubon Certified bird-friendly seal will be available nationwide in July at 90 retail locations in nine states, as well as online at Crowd Cow.

“Grasslands, the most threatened ecosystem in the U.S., and grassland birds need our help,” said Kay Cornelius, General Manager of Panorama Organic Grass-Fed Meats. “Partnering with Audubon, our ranchers are doing the hard work of improving and restoring wildlife habitat. The Audubon Certified bird-friendly seal carries this grassland connection right to your local grocer for the easy part – where shoppers can now positively impact conservation with their purchases.”