Introducing the Mesic Analysis Platform

WLFW's LATEST APPLICATION HELPS PRACTITIONERS RESTORE PRECIOUS WATER RESOURCES WHERE THEY MATTER MOST

Water is life in the arid sagebrush landscapes of the American West. On these vast rolling rangelands, wet places provide pockets of green that support wildlife, livestock, and people.

These pockets of green are called mesic resources, defined as places where water meets land. They include riparian areas along streams and rivers, wet meadows, springs, irrigated fields, and high-elevation habitats. 

A new web-based app developed by Working Lands for Wildlife called the Mesic Analysis Platform (MAP) helps conservationists, ranchers, restoration practitioners, and land managers identify and protect these vital wet places across the sagebrush biome. The MAP app combines 40+ years of satellite imagery with the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (a measure of vegetation productivity) to show places with reliable moisture and persistent green plants. 

The app has three different options that allow users to evaluate landscapes at multiple scales—from mapping wet areas across entire watersheds down to identifying individual stream reaches in need of restoration.

The MAP app also integrates ecosystem data from the Sagebrush Conservation Design, drought history, land ownership, and site-specific field metrics to provide practitioners with actionable data.

Want to learn more about the Mesic Analysis Platform? Join us for our next Science to Solutions Seminars: For Western Working Lands that's all about the Mesic Analysis Platform. This free webinar is on August 13 at 10:30 MT. Click here or the image above to register. 

Virtual Fences -> Actual Conservation

NEW WLFW-AFFILIATED RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS POTENTIAL CONSERVATION BENEFITS FROM VIRTUAL FENCING

Virtual fencing has the potential to revolutionize livestock grazing management, especially in conservation-focused livestock grazing systems, according to new research, co-authored by Working Lands for Wildlife’s Migratory Big Game Science Advisor, Jerod Merkle. 

The research detail four potential benefits: 1) increased landscape connectivity, 2), protection of sensitive areas, 3) lower predation risk, and
4) increased control over livestock operations.

It also covers barriers to widespread adoption of virtual fencing and other important considerations for ranchers, managers, and others looking into virtual fencing. 

Job Opening in Wyoming

WE'RE LOOKING FOR A RESEARCH SCIENTIST TO HELP DISSEMINATE SCIENCE AND TECH ACROSS WYOMING AND THE WEST

The Merkle Research Group, led by WLFW's Migratory Big Game Science Advisor, Jerod Merkle, is seeking a research scientist to help promote the application of our science and tools by coordinating workshops, presentations, partner meetings, and outreach activities that highlight ongoing conservation efforts related to wildlife migration, habitat conservation, and working lands stewardship.

The position will also support the development of outreach materials, success stories, and educational content that improve awareness of conservation opportunities and strengthen collaboration among partners involved in initiatives such as the USDA Working Lands for Wildlife Migratory Big Game Initiative (MBGI).

USDA Accepts 2.2 Million Acres Into 2026 Conservation Reserve Program 

ENROLLMENT BENEFITS NATURAL RESOURCES AND AGRICULTURAL OPERATIONS

The U.S. Department of Agriculture is accepting 2.2 million acres into the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) for 2026. Through CRP, USDA’s Farm Service Agency (FSA) offers agricultural producers and landowners incentive payments for their conservation efforts while benefiting their agricultural operations and protecting the nation’s natural resources.  

Producers and landowners submitted offers on nearly 2.5 million acres through the General, Grassland and Continuous CRP signups. Because the program’s total acreage is capped at 27 million acres for fiscal year 2026, only 2.2 million acres were available for enrollment, making for a highly competitive process for those who submitted offers for CRP.    

U.S. Forest Service: Water Doesn't Burn

RESTORING WATERSHEDS BOOSTS WILDFIRE RESILIENCE IN FORESTS AND RANGELANDS

A new national report, “Integrating Watershed Restoration in Wildfire Management,” shows how restoring hydrologic processes strengthens cohesive wildfire management strategy and advances active forest management across all landscapes. 

TThe report highlights how low-tech mesic restoration practices that WLFW promotes on rangelands, such as beaver dam analogs and one-rock dams, are also good for forested ecosystems. Mesic restoration benefits include more moisture in the ground, better vegetation production, and reduced risk of wildfire.

New Decision Tree For Managing Annual Grasses

GREAT BASIN-FOCUSED DECISION TREE HELPS MANAGERS MOVE FORWARD WITH IAG TREATMENTS

This collaboratively developed invasive annual grasses management decision tree is geared for managers and practitioners in the Great Basin.

The "Decision Tree for Managing Rangeland Health Against Invasive Annual Grasses" highlights how understanding ecological context – in this instance, the amount of bare ground, healthy perennial plants, and invasive annual grasses in a given area – plays a crucial role in determining the right management practices. This approach is similar to that of the Invasion Severity Index application developed by WLFW.

Great Plains Fire Summit - August 4-6 - Alva, Oklahoma

There's still time to register and attend the Great Plains Fire Science Exchange - Great Plains Fire Summit August 4-6 in Alva, Oklahoma. WLFW's Great Plains Science Advisor, Dirac Twidwell, and WLFW/Pheasants Forever's Great Plains Biome Manager, Tanner Swank, will both be there along with a host of other speakers and events.

Cheatgrass is invading the best sagebrush left in the West. How can Wyoming hold the line?

This great story from WyoFile digs into how land managers in Wyoming are using the Rangeland Analysis Platform to help predict the leading edges of cheatgrass invasion in Wyoming, home to some of the best intact sagebrush cores in the world. 

Can cow patties help restore our rangelands?

In a newly published study, researchers at the University of Nevada, Reno found that specialized seed coatings helped native grass seeds survive conditions that mimic passage through a cow's digestive system, increasing the likelihood that livestock could be used to deposit viable seeds across the landscape through their manure. 

The Working Lands for Wildlife partnership supports the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service's premier approach for conserving America's working lands to benefit people, wildlife, and rural communities. In the West, WLFW is guided by two, action-based frameworks for conservation. The framework approach is designed to increase conservation and restoration of rangelands by addressing major threats to rangeland health and through the implementation of conservation measures that limit soil disturbance, support sustainable grazing management, promote the strategic use of prescribed fire, and support native grassland species. Together, the frameworks leverage the power of voluntary, win-win conservation solutions to benefit people and wildlife from the Mississippi River to the Pacific Ocean.

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