Blogger’s note: Central to the conservation strategy is maintaining healthy, productive, native rangelands that provide the diversity of
habitats that sage-grouse depend upon. Many factors impact the health and resiliency of sagebrush landscapes to adapt
to change and must be addressed to maintain and restore ecosystem function. Therefore, sage-grouse conservation
partners have joined forces to protect and restore the health of sagebrush ecosystem.
Comprehensive Strategy Created to Address Rangeland Fire and Rehabilitation
Fire is a natural element of functioning sagebrush systems, but severe fires can lead to significant habitat loss, especially
when linked to the impact of exotic invasive annual grasses like cheatgrass. Secretary Sally Jewell made this a top priority
for DOI and convened a diverse coalition to develop a comprehensive, coordinated strategy to address rangeland fire. To
kick the plan into high gear, Secretary Jewell signed Secretarial Order 3336 Rangeland Fire Prevention, Management,
and Restoration in January 2015. The new strategy and Secretarial Order aim to reduce the likelihood, size, and severity
of rangeland fires and direct wildland fire management resources to prepare for and respond to rangeland fires, including
post-fire rehabilitation.
Growing Millions of Plants for Sagebrush Habitat Restoration
The USFS’s Lucky Peak Nursery, based near Boise, Idaho, is making a difference to agencies’ efforts to restore sagebrush
habitat. Since fall 2015, the nursery has grown over 4.7 million sagebrush seedlings that are being replanted at the U.S. Army
Yakima Training Center in Washington and USFS- and BLM-managed public lands in Idaho, Nevada, and Oregon. Lucky
Peak Nursery will be growing the seeds for the South Fork Boise River Post-Fire Restoration Project. Planting of sagebrush
and bitterbrush will occur in FY17, benefitting sage-grouse habitat as well as big game winter range in the sagebrush steppe.
Partners on this project are Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation and Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
Rehabilitating Public Lands after the Soda Fire
In 2015, the Soda Fire burned nearly 280,000 acres of sage-grouse habitat in southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. BLM
has led efforts for emergency stabilization and rehabilitation focusing on partnership, research, and adaptive management.
Treatments include herbicide; seeding and seedling planting; experimental use of soil bacteria to reduce cheatgrass vitality;
a pilot project using targeted livestock grazing to establish fuel breaks in the wildland-urban interface; and the use of
monitoring data to adaptively manage the landscape during retreatments.
Dedicating Funding to Address Rangeland Fire
BLM’s wildland fire management programs have made substantial commitments of approximately $56 million to address
rangeland fire in sage-grouse habitat. This includes funding for additional fire crews and equipment preparedness; sagegrouse
vegetation and fuels breaks projects; fire prevention and habitat education; and enhancing partnerships, including
Rangeland Fire Protection Associations (RFPA). Often the first responders to remote rangeland wildfires, many RFPA
members are also federal grazing permittees who share BLM’s interest in reducing wildfire impacts to sage-grouse habitat.
Funding also supported Team Rubicon, a group of military veterans who share a commitment to public service and have
volunteered to fight rangeland fire on public lands.
NRCS Commits Additional $211 Million for Sage Grouse Initiative Through 2018
NRCS launched the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) in 2010 as a partnership approach to proactively target efforts that sustain
the working rangelands that support sage-grouse populations. Using voluntary and incentive-based Farm Bill conservation
programs, SGI addresses non-regulatory threats facing sage-grouse, mainly fragmentation of their habitat, which is the
primary reason for declines. Since 2010, more than 1,300 ranches across 11 Western states have signed on, conserving
over 5 million acres of land — an area of working lands more than twice the size of Yellowstone National Park. Participating
producers also have peace of mind knowing they will not face additional regulations if sage-grouse are listed in the future
under ESA due to a novel partnership agreement with FWS. Due to the overwhelming popularity of this approach, USDA
Secretary Tom Vilsack committed an additional $211 million to continue SGI implementation through the life of the Farm Bill
(2018) through the Sage Grouse Initiative Investment Strategy, dubbed SGI 2.0. SGI is projected to conserve 8 million acres
of sage-grouse habitat by 2018.
Ranchers Partner with Sage Grouse Initiative to Improve Habitat and Ranches’ Bottom Line Northwest
Nevada ranchers, Tony and Diane Stobiecki, are proud of the conservation improvements on their 3,000-acre ranch. With
the help of SGI, the Rockin’ TD Ranch has restored vital riparian and meadow habitat, installed wildlife-friendly fencing, and
removed encroaching conifer while improving forage for livestock across the ranch.
Aligning the Wildland Resilient Landscapes Program
In FY 2015, DOI announced $10 million in funding for the Wildland Fire Resilient Landscapes, which directed resources to
restore the health and fire resilience of iconic landscapes like the sagebrush ecosystems. This move helps implement the
goals outlined in S.O. 3336 and further complements resources BLM and USFS have prioritized to the effort. To date, funded
projects have removed conifers, seeded native vegetation, mitigated fire severity, and reduced hazardous fuels in important
habitat areas for Greater, Bi-State, and Gunnison sage-grouse in Colorado, Utah, Idaho, Nevada, and California. Partners
include The Nature Conservancy (TNC), FWS, BLM, NRCS, National Park Service (NPS), Bureau of Indian Affairs, Tribes,
and States.
Partnering on Sage-Grouse Habitat Restoration
Inmates from Coyote Ridge Corrections Center in eastern Washington are growing 20,000 sagebrush plants that will be
planted on BLM-managed public land. The pilot program began in 2015 at a prison in eastern Oregon and has expanded
to prisons in Washington, Idaho, and Montana. In addition to the various correctional facilities, BLM partners on this project
with the Sustainability in Prisons Project and Institute for Applied Ecology.
Partnering on Sage-Grouse Habitat Restoration
The IWJV seeks to conserve priority bird habitats through collective, science-based projects and programs across 11 western states and has been instrumental helping NRCS implement the Sage-Grouse Initiative on private lands. In 2016, IWJV and BLM established a partnership agreement to help transfer some of those lessons learned to implementation of conservation practices across public lands. The agreement contains four primary objectives, including: 1) Field Delivery – coordinate and streamline conservation treatments in sage-grouse habitat; 2) Science – spatially prioritize conservation treatments, measure biological response of sage-grouse and sagebrush-dependent species, and transfer decision support tools to managers; 3) Communications and Outreach – share science, resources, and partnership success stories; and 4) Partner Coordination and Support – increase public and private participation in cross-boundary conservation efforts by developing relationships with federal, state, and private stakeholders invested in strategic habitat conservation.
Tackling Conifer Encroachment
Wildlife Biologist
Research has shown that when conifer trees expand into sagebrush landscapes, sage-grouse disappear. Pinyon and juniper
removal projects help restore the health of the sagebrush ecosystem, once again providing habitats needed by the birds. In
summer 2016, BLM’s Colorado River Valley Field Office partnered with Rocky Mountain Youth Corps to maintain sagebrush
habitat on the southeastern edge of the Greater sage-grouse range. The youth crew of 18- to 25-year-olds cut more than
16,000 young pinyon and juniper trees on 300 acres. The partnership gave youth corps participants on-the-ground resource
experience, while the entire landscape benefited from their hard work. In Utah through the State managed Watershed
Restoration Initiative, over 9,000 of sagebrush habitat was restored in 2016 though the removal of conifers. These acres
treated were on all lands regardless of ownership, a signal of the strength of partners and the commitment to treat the whole
landscape.
Through SGI, ranchers have already reclaimed more than 400,000 acres of otherwise suitable habitat through removal of
encroaching conifers to benefit sage-grouse and other sagebrush obligate species. SGI has made available to partners tree
canopy cover mapping so that practitioners can use spatial information to plan their next restoration project to maximize
the biological return on investment.
CCAAs provide private landowners with additional incentives for engaging in voluntary, proactive conservation through
assurances that limit future conservation obligations. In the CCAA, between Eastern Oregon’s Harney County Soil and
Conservation District and FWS, landowners agree to reduce threats to sage-grouse by removing invasive cheatgrass and
encroaching juniper trees, protecting sage-grouse nesting grounds, placing tags on fences as alerts to prevent in-flight
collisions, and installing wildlife escape ramps in stock tanks. In return for these conservation efforts, landowners receive
regulatory assurances that they will not be required to undertake any further measures should the sage-grouse be listed
under the ESA.
Collaborating with Private Land Stewards on Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAA)
CCAAs provide private landowners with additional incentives for engaging in voluntary, proactive conservation through
assurances that limit future conservation obligations. In the CCAA, between Eastern Oregon’s Harney County Soil and
Conservation District and FWS, landowners agree to reduce threats to sage-grouse by removing invasive cheatgrass and
encroaching juniper trees, protecting sage-grouse nesting grounds, placing tags on fences as alerts to prevent in-flight
collisions, and installing wildlife escape ramps in stock tanks. In return for these conservation efforts, landowners receive
regulatory assurances that they will not be required to undertake any further measures should the sage-grouse be listed
under the ESA.
New CCAA Under Development in Montana
In northeastern Montana, FWS is collaborating with ranchers and TNC to deliver voluntary, proactive conservation on private
lands for Greater sage-grouse and four declining migratory bird species. TNC has built a successful partnership around the
concept of a “grass bank” with local ranchers and is directly supporting developing a CCAA. Through its Partners for Fish
and Wildlife Program (PFW), FWS is hiring an employee to work side-by-side with TNC and landowners on existing efforts
in northeastern Montana to support conservation, provide regulatory assurances to landowners, and build a collaborative
foundation for the future.