Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching

The Sagebrush Conservation Gateway

COLLABORATIVE EFFORT HIGHLIGHTS 20 RESEARCH ARTICLES IN THE OCTOBER 2024 SPECIAL ISSUE OF THE JOURNAL OF RANGELAND ECOLOGY & MANAGEMENT AND PROVIDES AN ACTIONABLE PATH FORWARD TO FIGHT COMMON THREATS ACROSS THE BIOME

In 2022, a group of experts from across the sagebrush biome came together to publish the Sagebrush Conservation Design. The SCD used new remote sensing technologies, like the Rangelands Analysis Platform, to map the entire sagebrush biome and categorize it into Core Sagebrush Areas, Growth Opportunity Areas, and Other Rangeland Areas.

At its core, the SCD is a roadmap for diverse stakeholders to proactively conserve the sagebrush biome in the American West. It identifies the last, best, ecologically intact sagebrush areas to safeguard (Core and Growth Areas). It also analyzed the largest threats that are degrading the biome today and showed that 87% of degradation across the biome is caused by invasive annual grasses and conifer encroachment. Land-use modification is a severe, though localized threat, that fragments and reduces sagebrush ecological integrity.

The SCD builds off a 15-year history of collaborative, innovative landscape conservation in the sagebrush biome. Further, the SCD complements existing species-based conservation efforts by providing an ecosystem-based approach to maintaining sagebrush rangelands.

Implementing meaningful, targeted conservation to effectively defend intact sagebrush cores at scale remains one of the most pressing challenges to saving the biome.

To continue moving sagebrush conservation forward and to best leverage the SCD’s insights and map products, a diverse group of researchers, land management professionals, federal agencies, and non-governmental organizations came together to identify research opportunities and and answer questions that complicate sagebrush conservation.

Their work has been published in a special issue of the Journal of Rangeland Ecology & Management that was released October 15, 2024. Working Lands for Wildlife, in partnership with the other co-authors and organizations involved with these research papers, created the Sagebrush Conservation Gateway to better highlight the 20 peer-reviewed articles in the journal.

The Sagebrush Conservation Gateway features summaries of each article, along with interviews and presentations from the researchers, in an easy-to-navigate site. The Gateway delves into the science of how, where and why conservationists are deploying the SCD to conserve the sagebrush biome. The site presents key findings and related resources. It is geared towards conservation professionals, land managers, and anyone interested in sagebrush conservation.

From Bird to Biome: Keeping the Range Intact for Wildlife and People

LEARN MORE ABOUT WLFW's SHIFT FROM SPECIES-CENTRIC TO BIOME-CENTRIC CONSERVATION

Back in 2010 when the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service launched the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) — the inaugural effort of Working Lands for Wildlife — it focused private land conservation resources into sage grouse strongholds.

Research now confirms that SGI’s ongoing incentive-based conservation on private agricultural lands has yielded positive results for this iconic upland bird. Our paradigm of voluntary wildlife conservation through sustainable ranching also benefits more than 350 other sagebrush species, as well as hundreds of rural communities that depend on healthy rangelands.

After 15 years of innovation, experimentation, and observation, we’ve also learned a lot about how to better target and deliver our collective conservation efforts.

Today, WLFW is incorporating these insights and tools to conserve the best parts of America’s sagebrush and grassland biomes rather than focusing on a single indicator species.

This biome-centric approach is helping us save millions of acres of fertile rangelands – along with communities, wildlife, plants, and the ranching way of life – from the Mississippi all the way to the Pacific.

Defending Core Sagebrush Areas is Synonymous with Bird Conservation

THIS SCIENCE TO SOLUTIONS REPORT HIGHLIGHTS THREE NEW PAPERS THAT DEMONSTRATE HOW CONSERVING INTACT SAGEBRUSH AREAS BENEFITS SAGEBRUSH-DEPENDENT SONGBIRDS AND SAGE GROUSE 

Three new studies, published as part of a special 2024 issue of the Journal of Rangeland Ecology & Management, underscore how defending and growing core sagebrush areas has positive impacts on wildlife. Conserving intact sagebrush landscapes directly increases the abundance of ecosystem indicator species like sage grouse, sage thrashers, and Brewer’s sparrows.

Key findings from the papers:

• Across the biome, greater sage-grouse populations are stable in core sagebrush areas despite plummeting populations in degraded areas (Prochazka, et al.).
  
• In addition, the three species of songbirds that rely on healthy sagebrush habitat are up to 3 to 10 times more abundant in core areas than in degraded areas (Kumar et al.).
• Along the California and Nevada border, the Bi-State population of sage grouse was predicted to be 37.4% more abundant after conservation efforts compared to if no conservation actions took place (Coates, et al).

Publication Alert: Getting to the Core: SGI Evaluates 12 years of Conservation through the Lens of the Sagebrush Conservation Design

SGI’S PROACTIVE, VOLUNTARY CONSERVATION MODEL HAS CONSERVED SAGEBRUSH CORES BUT ANALYSIS SHOWS MORE WORK TO BE DONE ON INVASIVE ANNUAL GRASSES

In 2010, the USDA-Natural Resources Conservation Service launched the Sage Grouse Initiative. This voluntary, incentive-based conservation approach, part of the agency’s Working Lands for Wildlife efforts, uses Farm Bill resources to implement conservation on private working rangelands.

A recent retrospective analysis of the SGI’s work over 12 years, led by WLFW's sagebrush biome science advisor, David Naugle, showed that this model has conserved not only sage grouse habitat, but also critical sagebrush core areas in the West.

The analysis shows that between 60 and 70 percent of SGI’s conservation investments were made in ecologically important sagebrush rangelands.

SGI’s targeted conifer management investments were 20 percent more effective at improving sagebrush health than scattered treatments. Clustered, highly targeted conservation easements in Montana helped protect some of the most intact sagebrush and grasslands in the northern Plains where land-use conversion is a major threat.

Publication Alert: Targeted and Proactive Conifer Treatments Restore Key Components of Sagebrush Ecosystems

ANALYSIS OF LARGEST EVER, CROSS-BOUNDARY CONIFER REMOVAL EFFORTS IN THE SAGEBRUSH BIOME SHOWED PROJECTS ACHIEVING MANAGEMENT GOALS AND VALIDATED NEED FOR COUPLED MANAGEMENT OF INVASIVE ANNUAL GRASSES

Conifer encroachment – the process where native trees like juniper and pinyon pine move from historic habitats (higher elevations, wet and cooler areas) into sagebrush rangeland – is responsible for more than 20% of declines in sagebrush ecological integrity since 1990, making it one of the top threats to the biome.  

WLFW researcher Joe Smith led a team that evaluated the vegetative outcomes of two large conifer removal efforts using the Rangeland Analysis Platform and then compared changes in their ecological integrity before and after management according to the new Sagebrush Conservation Design. 

They found that sustained, focused implementation of tree removal treatments can effectively halt the second leading driver of sagebrush ecosystem degradation while restoring the foundations of a healthy sagebrush plant community.

Additionally, cross-boundary projects like these can achieve significant scale when partners work together to address threats across public and private lands.

Meet Tanner Swank, WLFW's New Great Plains Grasslands Biome Manager

IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PHEASANTS FOREVER AND QUAIL FOREVER, WLFW IS EXCITED TO WELCOME TANNER IN HIS NEW ROLE

In partnership with Pheasants Forever (PF) and Quail Forever (QF), WLFW is thrilled to introduce the Great Plains Grasslands biome manager, Tanner Swank. This position falls under the Natural Resource Conservation Service’s (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) Framework. Within this Framework, Swank will cover working grasslands in Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, New Mexico, Montana, Nebraska, Colorado, Wyoming, North Dakota and South Dakota.

In his new role, Swank will serve as a core member of the western WLFW team to elevate the continued success of grassland conservation. He will collaborate with local agencies and partner organizations, work with other team members to develop project priorities, and develop education and outreach events to promote grasslands conservation throughout the Great Plains.

WLFW Bulletin

Find more news and resources at WLFW.org.

Saving the Heart of the American West's Largest Landscape

This great article, originally published in the "Features" section of Park Science magazine, Volume 38, Number 1, Summer 2024 (August 30, 2024), provides a great, high-level view of the threats facing the sagebrush biome and highlights how the National Park Service and other agencies in the Department of Interior are using the Sagebrush Conservation Design and the research from the special issue of Rangeland Ecology & Management featured above to better plan and implement conservation in the sagebrush sea.

Save the Date: WLFW in the East, Next Bobwhite Webinar November 14 @ 12:30 pm ET

Join Dr. Mark McConnell from Mississippi State for the next webinar in the WLFW, Pheasants Forever/Quail Forever Bobwhite Webinar Series. Dr. McConnell will be discussing bobwhite quail in agricultural lands on this webinar. Register here or through the link in the title above.

(Don't) Leave it to the Beavers

This short, informative story from the USDA-NRCS in South Dakota highlights how partners have been installing beaver dam analogs (BDAs), or human-made beaver dams - in rangeland outside of Custer, SD. The BDAs help slow down water and allow it to soak into the soil where it remains available to plants and animals later in the season when uplands dry out.

Did You Know: Wildfires Burn More Rangeland than Forest?

Forest fires tend to grab headlines, but as this interesting storymap points out, 52% of fires in the U.S. in the last 20 years have been in rangelands. Invasive annual grasses, encroaching conifer trees, and a changing climate all contribute to the increasing frequency and severity of range (and forest) fires. Reducing the spread of invasive annual grasses and removing encroaching trees are two ways WLFW is working to help conserve sagebrush rangelands and the ecosystem services they provide.

Utah State University Researchers Monitor Sage Grouse Populations, Habitat With Help of Bird Dogs

This great video from USU highlights how researchers are using hunting dogs to help monitor sage grouse populations and sagebrush habitat in northern Utah.

In Minnesota and Everywhere, Trees Threaten Grasslands and the Pheasants They Support

This story from the Minnesota Star Tribune features WLFW's Great Plains Grasslands biome science advisor, Dirac Twidwell, and highlights how encroaching trees in Minnesota are impacting grassland species, like pheasants. (Note: To access the full article, you need to create a free account.)

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.

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