Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
|
|
|
BOSH Project Exemplifies How to Restore the Sagebrush Sea at Landscape Scale
PROJECT HAS RESTORED 140,000 ACRES THROUGH TARGETED TREE REMOVAL AND ISN'T SLOWING DOWN ANYTIME SOON
|
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.
“The BOSH project stands to be the largest single restoration effort we’ve ever undertaken in the sagebrush biome," said Jeremy Maestas, national sagebrush ecosystem specialist at the USDA-NRCS West National Technology Support Center. "Just to put this in context, it’s probably five to six times larger than any similar area we’ve undertaken to address this conifer issue."
“When we take that bird’s eye view of the whole biome, the southwest portion of Idaho and the BOSH project is the bull’s eye, ground zero, for some of the best sage grouse ecosystems that we have.”
The project is specifically targeting restoration treatments to benefit sage grouse. All of the cutting locations are within 10 kilometers (~6.21 miles) of known sage grouse leks where the birds gather each spring to mate.
Removing trees for sage grouse can have immediate benefits. In the Warner Mountains of Eastern Oregon, researchers documented a 12% increase in the growth rate for sage grouse populations following tree removal. High-quality habitat increased sixfold. A similar response is expected in the Owyhees.
Connor White, a BOSH project manager with Pheasants Forever (and former Sage Grouse Initiative Strategic Watershed Action Team member) understands what it takes to address the scale of this threat and its impact on sage grouse.
“Since sage grouse are a landscape-level species, we have to design conifer treatments that are also at a landscape scale,” White said. “Thousands and thousands of acres. Like we like to say in our shop, horizon to horizon.”
|
|
|
Balancing Pinyon Juniper Management for Sage Grouse and Pinyon Jay
U.S. FOREST SERVICE SHARES WLFW-SUPPORTED SCIENCE
|
In 2023, U.S. Forest Service researcher Jason Rheinhardt collaborated with WLFW researchers to develop an "optimization model" that helps managers determine where pinyon-juniper management will have the most beneficial impact to sage grouse while minimizing impacts to pinyon jays.
While sage grouse actively avoid pinyon-juniper trees, pinyon jays rely on mixed-age pinyon-juniper stands that border sagebrush rangelands.
The team also analyzed WLFW-supported conifer cuts over the past decade and found that by prioritizing conifer removal in sage grouse core habitat, 85 percent of removal projects avoided pinyon jay habitat.
The model and supporting science were featured in a February 2024 "Science You Can Use" report published by the Forest Service's Rocky Mountain Research Station.
|
| Great Basin Fire Probability Map Updated for 2024
UPDATED MAPS SHOW 2024 WILDFIRE PROBABILITY ACROSS THE GREAT BASIN
|
In partnership with the USDA's Agricultural Research Service, WLFW-affliated researcher Joe Smith has released the 2024 Great Basin Fire Probability Maps.
These maps help managers plan for potential wildfires in the Great Basin by forecasting fire probability in the event of an ignition.
Learn more about this product and how it can help managers prepare for fire season from this Ask an Expert with Joe Smith and Jeremy Maestas.
The team and product was recently awarded a Technology Transfer award from the Pacific West Area of USDA-ARS for "Development and deployment of a prescriptive model and software tool that allows for accurate prediction of rangeland wildfire."
Congrats to the team!
|
|
|
2024 Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic Recap
|
AMERICA'S GRASSLANDS EXHIBIT FEATURED NEW EDUCATIONAL MURAL AND SHOWCASED INCREDIBLE CONSERVATION PARTNERSHIPS IN THE GREAT PLAINS
|
One of the WLFW team’s biggest highlights of 2024 was attending and participating in the 2024 National Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
Camaraderie, conservation, and learning sparked exciting and intriguing questions and discussions throughout the Denny Sanford PREMIER Center.
This year set an all-time record in attendance bringing in 35,415 people over the course of the weekend.
Right as the attendees walked through the front doors, the America's Grasslands exhibit could be spotted in the atrium. Immediately drawing crowds in, the exhibit boasted a large, beautiful mural with artwork by Ram Papish and design by Maja Smith.
The exhibit's purpose was to create an immersive experience of the four stages of woody encroachment in America’s Grasslands and to highlight WLFW’s efforts to Defend America’s Grasslands.
This exhibit would not have been possible without the help and collaboration of our partners, South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts, South Dakota Association of Conservation Districts Employees, South Dakota Grassland Coalition, South Dakota Soil Health Coalition, Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever, and USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service.
|
|
|
Three Key Ways NRCS Supports Double Wins for Wildlife and Working Lands Conservation
WORKING LANDS FOR WILDLIFE UNITES CONSERVATIONISTS, PRODUCERS, AND LANDOWNERS
|
From the iconic sage grouse in the west to the spotted turtle in the east, the NRCS, through its Working Lands for Wildlife efforts, supports farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners in delivering win-win conservation solutions for wildlife and working lands.
Last summer, NRCS announced a $500 million investment in WLFW over the next five years, with an additional $30 million to increase science and coordination capacity through partnerships.
Four new Frameworks for Conservation Action are in development for Western Migratory Big Game, Eastern Deciduous Forest, Eastern Aquatic Connectivity, and Southeastern Pine Ecosystems, along with updates to the three existing Frameworks that guide conservation efforts focused on the Sagebrush Biome, Great Plains Grasslands, and Northern Bobwhite, Grasslands, and Savannas.
|
| USDA Launches New Bobwhite Conservation Pilot and Announces General Conservation Reserve Program Signup
CRP DEADLINE: 3/29/24
NEW BOBWHITE PILOT DEDICATES $13M IN ADDITIONAL FUNDING
|
Landowners interested in the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) have until March 29 to submit an application for FY 24. CRP pays producers to keep marginal lands in native vegetation and out of production.
At the 2024 Pheasant Fest and Quail Classic, USDA Undersecretary Robert Bonnie announced a new pilot program as part of the Working Lands for Wildlife's bobwhite conservation initiative. The pilot provides $13M in new assistance through the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) for producers in select states to help the bobwhite and other game and non-game species by managing their working lands for early successional habitat while meeting their lands natural resource and production goals.
NRCS accepts applications year-round for the EQIP. Interested producers from eligible states should contact the NRCS at their local USDA Service Center.
|
|
|
Aaron Lien with the University of Arizona and Angela Fletcher with Earth Economics, authors of the recently released "Accounting for Nature’s Value with Rangeland Conservation Practices in the Western Range and Irrigated Region" report, recently joined an NRCS Conservation Outcomes Webinar Series webinar to discuss the framework and its results and applications.
The report and webinar describe an evolving analytical framework used to help estimate the ecosystem services value of three key rangeland conservation practices in the 11-state Western Range and Irrigated Region.
Scroll to the bottom of the Conservation Outcomes Webinar page to find links to the recorded webinar and other resources.
|
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.
|
The USDA-NRCS announced it will invest $138 million for climate-smart conservation easements through the Inflation Reduction Act in 2024. Several of the easements will keep grasslands from being converted to crop agriculture in key geographies in the sagebrush and Great Plains grasslands biomes including Arizona, California, Montana, South Dakota, Texas, and Utah.
This year, the NRCS expanded priorities to enable more producers to adopt climate-smart systems and streamlined Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) to speed up assistance for producers. In addition to the climate-change mitigation benefits, ACEP helps safeguard the future of farmers, ranchers, and agricultural communities who depend on and sustain the land as a way of life.
|
The Krause Family runs a large operation in Clear Lake, South Dakota. Their partnership with the NRCS helped them install water systems that enabled the family to implement rotational grazing programs across the sprawling ranch. As the grasses recovered, wildlife like sharp-tailed grouse started appearing on the ranch. This video, part of the "Our Amazing Grasslands" series, highlights their efforts.
If you've never seen a sharp-tailed grouse's fancy footwork before, this video is well worth a watch!
|
Mark and Patti Bennett have been stewarding their 8,000+ acre Secret Valley Ranch for decades. For the Bennetts, conservation and agriculture go hand-in-hand, and they recently partnered with the Blue Mountain Land Trust and the USDA-NRCS through its Agricultural Conservation Easement Program - Agricultural Land Easement (ACEP-ALE) to place a conservation easement on the property.
The easement blends ecological protections and habitat goals with the operational needs of a ranch, incorporating a grazing management plan and continuing the rangeland monitoring at sites Mark established years ago. In addition to preserving the ranches agricultural heritage, the easement ensures this iconic eastern Oregon ranch will continue to provide habitat for sage grouse, redband cutthroat trout, and other wildlife for generations to come.
|
New science highlights the important role that flood-irrigated hayfields play for sandhill cranes, showing that flood-irrigated grass hay provides 60 percent of the wetlands supporting breeding sandhill cranes in the Intermountain West. Learn more about this research and how these habitats are threatened by land-use conversion from the Intermountain West Joint Venture.
|
|
|
Working Lands for Wildlife is the 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.
|
|
|
Manage your preferences | Opt Out using TrueRemove™
Got this as a forward? Sign up to receive our future emails.
View this email online.
|
|
|
This email was sent to .
To continue receiving our emails, add us to your address book.
|
| |
|
1783 Buerkle Circle | Saint Paul, MN 55110 US
|
|
|
|
