Working Lands for Wildlife

Tucked in a valley along West Camp Creek in Baker County, Oregon, the Secret Valley Ranch, owned and operated by Mark and Patti Bennett, stretches from the Wallowa Whitman National Forest on its southern border to Higgins Reservoir in the north. The Elkhorn Mountains rise on the distant skyline, which seems to go on forever. ⛰️ Throughout the years, the Bennetts have completed many improvement projects across Secret Valley’s vast landscape. Their goals were two-fold: 1️⃣ Safeguard and improve the property’s sage-grouse population 2️⃣ Maintain their family’s cattle operation and agricultural business To achieve these goals, the Bennetts worked with NRCS Oregon and Blue Mountain Land Trust to enroll their ranch in the Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Agricultural Land Easement (ACEP-ALE). Read their full story here: https://buff.ly/3TP9sbA

After a long hard winter, the south-facing slope above Boulder Lake in Sublette County, Wyoming, is lush. Needle and thread grass sways thigh-high and big bunches of arrowleaf balsamroot bloom in punches of yellow. Intermixed among the many large rocks are a host of other wildflowers and grasses. Notably absent among these native species is cheatgrass. This lack of cheatgrass is no lucky accident. It is the result of Sublette County’s proactive treatment program—one of the first success stories in treating cheatgrass at a landscape scale. Sublette County, Wyoming, has successfully treated more than 97,000 acres of cheatgrass, protecting core sagebrush habitat. Read how they did it here: https://buff.ly/3TVlkb3 #SuccessStory Photo: Nell Smith

When we talk about where WLFW works, we often focus on geography and habitat. But there's so much more to "where" we work than state lines and ecosystems. 🌎 Our voluntary conservation only works where willing communities, the right landscapes, and wildlife needs intersect. Learn more here: https://buff.ly/3mLIqnv

Zeedyk structures are low-tech, rock structures that help restore hydrologic function in wet meadows by slowing down water and spreading it out across the floodplain. 🪨 The Intermountain West Joint Venture put together this excellent resource for those interested in learning more about how to best use these low-cost, low-tech structures to restore wet meadows in the arid West. Check it out here:

As the saying goes, "What's good for the herd is good for the bird.” 👏🏻 Happy Beef Month! 🐮 Conserving America's working lands through collaboration with landowners and ranchers benefits people, wildlife, and rural communities. Our approach restores clean water and healthy soils while keeping working grass and shrublands intact. Working together to preserve grasslands is beneficial for both ranchers and wildlife. 🤝 #BeefMonth Photo: Ken Miracle

Did you know 85% of conifer removal in sage grouse core habitat avoided pinyon jay habitat? ❌🌲 In 2023, U.S. Forest Service researcher Jason Reinhardt collaborated with WLFW researchers to develop an "optimization model" that helps managers determine where pinyon-juniper management will have the most beneficial impact on sage grouse while minimizing impacts on pinyon jays. Read the full report here: https://buff.ly/3wElI5z Photo: USFS

Few projects in sagebrush country have had the impact and breadth of the Bruneau-Owyhee Sagebrush Habitat (BOSH) project that is fighting back against encroaching junipers degrading sagebrush rangeland in southwestern Idaho. The BOSH project is unprecedented in scope and scale – 30,000 acres of state and federal lands are being treated per year to halt juniper encroachment. In the sixth year of the project, 140,000 acres have been treated so far. 😳 A new video 🎥 and story 📖 from the Idaho Rangeland Commission's "Life on the Range" series provides details about the project and the benefits that removing encroaching conifers has for wildlife and producers. Watch it here: https://buff.ly/4aU0UWw Photo: Connor White

🚨 Join in on the May 2024 Conservation Outcomes Webinar: Targeting Riparian Restorations in the Intermountain West. 🚨 On May 2 at 2:00 p.m. Eastern, Joseph Wheaton with Utah State University’s Department of Watershed Sciences, and Jeremy Maestas, a Sagebrush Ecosystems Specialist with the NRCS Western National Technical Support Center, will share new findings on effectively targeting wetland restorations in the riverscapes of the intermountain West during our free, one-hour Conservation Outcomes Webinar. This webinar will provide key takeaways from a study, co-developed by Utah State University and USDA’s Conservation Effects Assessment Project, on leveraging the Valley Bottom Extraction Tool (VBET) to identify current wetland and riverscape health in key Western U.S. watersheds, create tools to inform conservation and document outcomes of restoration efforts. No registration is required. Access the webinar via Microsoft Teams shortly before 2:00 p.m. Eastern on May 2 at this link: https://buff.ly/3VFfLNG

Invasive annual grasses, like cheatgrass, medusahead, and ventanata are the single biggest threat to healthy sagebrush habitat. But tackling the threat that invasive annual grasses pose to rangelands is challenging. In Sublette County, WY, a coalition of partners has spent more than a decade experimenting, tracking, and most importantly, treating cheatgrass. To date, they’ve successfully treated more than 97,000 acres, keeping core habitat intact and healthy. Learn how they worked together to hold the line against this pervasive rangeland invader. Julie Kraft, Sublette County’s Weed and Pest supervisor has spent the last decade fighting back against cheatgrass. Over the years, her team has treated almost 100,000 acres across the county and have kept core sagebrush intact. During that time, they’ve learned some lessons. Here are a few: Involve local partners from the start. Start little but think big. Develop a shared vision. Be patient and consistent. Check out this inspiring success story for more lessons and details on how Kraft developed this successful partnership. https://buff.ly/3TVlkb3

🚨 CAREER OPPORTUNITY 🚨 Playa Lakes Joint Venture (“PLJV”) is seeking a dynamic leader with the drive and entrepreneurial spirit to develop collaborative conservation programs that advance the PLJV partnership. For more information on this position, including the full job description with major duties, desired traits, required qualifications, and submission requirements, please visit their website at buff.ly/4aDSHpY. The deadline for all applications is 5:00 PM MDT on May 10.