Restoration and rehabilitation treatments that manipulate vegetation can be expensive to implement but are infrequently evaluated to determine whether spending more improves intended outcomes. We assessed commonly implemented vegetation treatments and costs relative to their outcomes across sagebrush shrublands and pinyon‐juniper woodlands in the western United States. Our results suggest the differential benefits of treatments aimed at reducing wildfire risk, improving wildlife habitat and forage, and reducing erosion. Given the growing need and costs of land management actions, we raise the importance of specifying treatment budgets and objectives, coupled with effectiveness monitoring, to improve future efforts.