A great challenge in present land use planning is the many competing claims and interests over land and natural resources. The multitude of activities and developments often lead to large changes in the landscape, with often detrimental consequences for Sami reindeer herding. There is an increasing acknowledgement of traditional and experience-based knowledge must be integrated in land use planning and decision-making in order to achieve holistic management. However, there still are indications that this is often not the case, and frequently with severe consequences for reindeer herding. In this article, we draw on discussions on a workshop and ongoing conversations with herders about land-use planning and pasture degradation. We discuss challenges related to established science-based approaches applied in land use planning as often being too rigid and not well suited to capture the empirical reality of the interconnectedness of herding to the dynamics of the landscape and nature.