Sage Grouse

A new guide, produced through a partnership between public university extension programs in the Great Plains, the USDA-NRCS’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW), the USDA-NRCS’s Central National Technology Support Center (CNTSC), and various other conservation partners, provides the first-ever framework for addressing woody encroachment, now recognized as one of the top two drivers of grassland loss in the Great Plains.

If you’re recreating on public lands in the American West, you’ve probably already felt the impacts of the invasive annual grasses and wildfires that ruin habitat for wildlife and our outdoor activities.

Sagebrush rangelands once covered nearly 250 million acres in western North America. Today, this landscape has been reduced to half its original size and is rapidly shrinking.

Rural Americans matter—a lot—to the fate of U.S. environmental policy. Not only do farmers, ranchers, and forest owners manage huge portions of American lands and watersheds, but rural voters also have an outsized impact on national policy.

For many years the Service has worked with partners to help them develop Candidate Conservation Agreements (CCAs). CCAs primarily have been developed by Federal agencies to cover Federal lands, and several have resulted in conservation efforts that made listing unnecessary.

In addition to the Colorado credit, landowners can receive an extra reward for conserving their land with a conservation easement. The current rules are not yet permanent, so please keep that in mind as you and your advisors make plans for your taxes.

This guide is meant to help you understand the steps that must be completed to conserve your property and the typical costs that are involved.

The purpose of our Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands effort is to catalyze proactive, voluntary, and community-led sagebrush rangeland conservation – expanding success across private and public lands.

This paper analyzes surveys of private landowners to identify factors that determine landowner engagement in the conservation of endangered species.

This study comparing insect communities in grazed, rested, and idled pastures in Montana found that the types of insects that provide a critical food source for sage grouse chicks and other shrub- and grassland-dependent birds were 13 percent more prevalent on managed versus idled rangelands.& ...

Ranchers & Sage Grouse Find the Elbow Room They Need to Make A Living Why are record-breaking numbers of ranchers signing up for conservation easements in high-abundance sage grouse areas? Rangewide, a quarter-million acres will remain as working ranches without threat of subdivision.

Reducing Onshore Natural Gas and Oil Exploration and Production Impacts Using a Broad-Based Stakeholder Approach

The 2014 Farm Bill Field Guide to Fish and Wildlife Conservation was prepared as an introduction for fish and wildlife conservation providers – the on-the-ground biologists and conservation partners who help deliver Farm Bill conservation programs to landowners.

Wildfire is a striking story, often filled with the drama of danger. But there's a narrative missing from many of the reports: We need more controlled fires to prevent these runaway infernos, said fire historian and Arizona State University Regents’ Professor Stephen Pyne.

The Guide to Environmental Markets for Farmers and Ranchers, produced by the American Farmland Trust (AFT), provides an overview of available market opportunities for environmental credits and services, how farmers and ranchers can get involved in them, and ways to encourage their continued growth.

This document provides guidance on the establishment, use, and operation of conservation banks for the purpose of providing a tool for offset mitigating adverse impacts to species listed as threatened or endangered under the Endangered Species Act of 1973, as amended.

Fence marking using vinyl undersill trim is an effective and practical approach to increasing wire fence visibility and reducing potential sage-grouse collisions.