Range Managers
In short: today's best AI models could do about 7% of this job's working time (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) if the work were set up for them, and about 34% by the end of 2028 if progress keeps its long-run pace. The people and hands-on work, about 63% of the time, stays with people.
Research or study range land management practices to provide sustained production of forage, livestock, and wildlife.
$73,010 a year (for the broader BLS group this job sits in).
A typical 40-hour week
Not yet reviewed task by task- AI could take on3 h
- A person checks AI's work0 h
- Desk work AI can't do yet12 h
- Stays with people25 h
Range Managers, now: of a 40-hour week, AI could take on 3 hours, 0 hours become checking its work, 12 hours are desk work it can't do yet, and 25 hours stay with people.
The largest pieces: Tailor conservation plans to landowners' goals, such as livestock support, wildlife, or recreation (under an hour); Coordinate with federal land managers and other agencies and organizations to manage and protect rangelands (under an hour); Offer advice to rangeland users on water management, forage production methods, and control of brush (under an hour).
Estimates for a typical week of this job, if progress keeps its long-run pace, counting work the best models finish four times in five. Every task is below.
of the working time. Now is projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index.
- 37%
- 2%
- 61%
of the work: Anthropic's measure of what people already bring to Claude at work (2025). It counts help with part of a task, so it can be higher than the share within reach.
On the chosen pace and reliability. Estimate.
Share of the working time within reach, now to 2030
Change assumptionsHide assumptionsLong-run pace, four in five
What each choice means: , , , , . Every pace starts from .
At this date and pace, models finish tasks up to 2.4 work days long four times in five.
How far this has come
With GPT-4, measured in March 2023, 0% of this job's working time was within reach at . With Claude 3.7 Sonnet, measured in February 2025, 0%. With Claude Mythos Preview (early), measured in April 2026, 1%. Today's estimate: 7%.
A backcast: today's task data with the best model METR had measured by each date. It shows how fast the models have moved, not what anyone forecast at the time.
Measured use over time
None of this job's 18 tasks showed up in the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled in any of its 7 releases, from February 2025 to May 2026.
Measured, not estimated: Anthropic's samples of Claude.ai conversations, each tied by a model to an O*NET task, from the Anthropic Economic Index. It says where Claude's use goes, not how much of this job's working time it covers, so it is not on the same scale as the reach above. The releases differ in their sample, their classifier and the smallest share they report (the June 2026 file rounds each task to a hundredth of a percent, so a smaller task reads as none), which is why a change of method starts a new line. At least 96% of each older release's task-tied use matched this site's tasks, and all of the newest. Claude.ai only, so use through other tools and other companies' models is not in it. Every job ranked.
Robots and the physical work
Anthropic rates 23% of this job's working time as physical work. For 4% of the working time, a robot has been shown doing most of the task somewhere: 4% in a structured facility. 0.08 of 3, the 536th highest of the 923 jobs.
- Not physical 77%
- No robot shown 19%
- In a structured facility 4%
Anthropic's rating, not this site's estimate: Claude Opus 5, searching the web, rated each physical O*NET task by the kind of setting in which a robot it could cite (deployed, sold or demonstrated) does most of the task, weighted by its own estimate of each task's share of the time (What work can robots do?, September 30, 2026, data CC BY 4.0; every job ranked). A robot shown somewhere is not a robot in your building: cost, setup and safety decide that. The share within reach on this page still counts no body work. The robot behind each rated task is under the task below.
The tasks
Sorted by . 18 tasks from .
| Task | Kind | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Study rangeland management practices and research range problems to provide sustained production of forage, livestock, and wildlife.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 19% | 4.2 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | 6%Half by Feb 2028 | |
| Manage private livestock operations.Done daily by most who do it. | 15% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Measure and assess vegetation resources for biological assessment companies, environmental impact statements, and rangeland monitoring programs.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 10% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Develop new and improved instruments and techniques for activities, such as range reseeding.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 8% | 1.7 work weeks1.7 work days to 1.2 work months | Stays with people | |
| Manage forage resources through fire, herbicide use, or revegetation to maintain a sustainable yield from the land.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: no robot shown. Anthropic's rating. | 8% | 2.5 work days6.7 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Plan and direct construction and maintenance of range improvements, such as fencing, corrals, stock-watering reservoirs, and soil-erosion control structures.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 6% | 2.5 work days3.3 h to 1.7 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Plan and implement revegetation of disturbed sites.Done more than yearly by most who do it. Robots: in a structured facility, Dendra Systems aerial seeding drones (Gen3 spreader drones) (sold). Anthropic's rating. | 6% | 3.3 work days6.7 h to 2.5 work weeks | Stays with people | |
| Maintain soil stability and vegetation for non-grazing uses, such as wildlife habitats and outdoor recreation.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 5% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 4.2 work days | Stays with people | |
| Regulate grazing, such as by issuing permits and checking for compliance with standards, and help ranchers plan and organize grazing systems to manage, improve, protect, and maximize the use of rangelands.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 4% | 6.7 h1.7 h to 2.5 work days | Stays with people | |
| Study forage plants and their growth requirements to determine varieties best suited to particular range.Done yearly or less by most who do it. | 4% | 2.1 work days3.3 h to 1.3 work weeks | 18%Half by Jul 2027 | |
| Study grazing patterns to determine number and kind of livestock that can be most profitably grazed and to determine the best grazing seasons.Done more than yearly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.7 work days3.3 h to 1 work week | 28%Half by Apr 2027 | |
| Tailor conservation plans to landowners' goals, such as livestock support, wildlife, or recreation.Done more than monthly by most who do it. | 3% | 1.3 work days3.3 h to 3.1 work days | 52%Half by now |
Within reach, per task: the share of the task's time whose instances are short enough for a model to finish at the chosen date, pace and reliability. Half by: the date half of that time comes within reach.
Jobs that share skills with this one
From O*NET's related occupations. Within reach now and by the end of 2028, long-run pace, four in five.
Where this job works
The industry groups that employ the most of it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Where the most of these jobs are
The metro areas with the most people in it (BLS, May 2025). Counts are for the broader BLS group this job sits in.
Questions about this job
- How much of the work of Range Managers is within reach of AI now?
- An estimated 7% of the working time is within reach of AI models now and 34% by the end of 2028, on METR's long-run pace at four in five (22% to 37% across the three paces the site shows). Within reach means a model could finish work that long at that reliability. It is not a forecast of jobs lost or of savings.
- Which tasks of Range Managers come within reach first?
- Weighted by the time each takes, the tasks with the most within reach now (projected from METR's April 2026 measurement and Epoch's November 2026 index) are: Tailor conservation plans to landowners' goals, such as livestock support, wildlife, or recreation (52% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); Coordinate with federal land managers and other agencies and organizations to manage and protect rangelands (55% of the task's time now, 100% by the end of 2028); and Offer advice to rangeland users on water management, forage production methods, and control of brush (96% of the task's time now).
- Which tasks of Range Managers stay with people?
- Tasks that are people work or body work are not counted as within reach at any date. The largest: Manage private livestock operations; Measure and assess vegetation resources for biological assessment companies, environmental impact statements, and rangeland monitoring programs; and Develop new and improved instruments and techniques for activities, such as range reseeding. Together such tasks are about 63% of the working time.
- Do people already use AI for the work of Range Managers?
- In the Claude.ai conversations Anthropic sampled for May 2026, no reportable share went to this job's tasks. Anthropic's labor market measure puts the share of the job's tasks seen in real Claude use at work at 0%. These are measures of use, not of how much of the work AI could finish, and they cover Claude only.
- Can robots do the physical work of Range Managers?
- Anthropic's robot exposure rating (September 2026) finds 23% of the working time is physical work, and that a robot has been shown doing most of the task, somewhere, for 4% of the working time, 4% in a structured facility. Its index is 0.08 of 3. One example: Dendra Systems aerial seeding drones (Gen3 spreader drones) for "plan and implement revegetation of disturbed sites". A robot shown somewhere is not one in every workplace; this site's own estimates still count no physical work as within reach.
- How is this estimated?
- From the 18 tasks O*NET lists for the occupation, each with an estimated length checked against GDPval and a share of the working time, each classed as desk, people or body work, and METR's measurements of how long a task the best AI models can finish, carried forward to the date from the latest, Claude Mythos Preview (early) in April 2026. Data checked November 10, 2026.
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