Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
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USDA Expands Migratory Big Game Initiative to Broader Landscape Initiative
SUCCESSFUL WYOMING PILOT PROGRAM ADDS GEOGRAPHIES AND FUNDING
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The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) is expanding its partnership to support the voluntary conservation of private working lands and migratory big game populations from the state of Wyoming to include Idaho and Montana.
USDA’s Migratory Big Game Initiative also provides a new package of investments in key conservation programs for fiscal year 2024, which includes funding to support increased staffing capacity and the deployment of streamlined program application processes for agricultural producers and landowners.
“We’re pleased to announce the expansion of this initiative,” said Jackie Byam, NRCS State Conservationist in Wyoming. “It will help create new and enhanced opportunities through USDA’s conservation programs to keep working lands working and give farmers, ranchers, and forest landowners new opportunities to conserve wildlife and migration corridors.”
“Using lessons learned from a partnership pilot with the state of Wyoming, USDA is scaling up this model across the West as part of President Biden’s commitment to support voluntary, locally led, producer-driven conservation efforts,” said William Bunce, FSA State Executive Director in Wyoming.
USDA will offer producers a package of opportunities they can choose from to meet their operations’ unique needs. Programs include the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Agricultural Conservation Easement Program (ACEP) and Grassland Conservation Reserve Program (Grassland CRP) and will be available across a wide range of lands including grasslands, shrublands, and forested habitats located on tribal and privately owned working lands.
For fiscal year 2024, NRCS has provided Wyoming, Montana and Idaho with $21.4 million in dedicated funding to kickstart the new Migratory Big Game Initiative. In Wyoming, this includes $4 million for perpetual conservation easements through ACEP, and $5.2 million for on-the-ground restoration and enhancement practices through EQIP.
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Prioritizing Healthy Grasslands = Better Conservation Outcomes
NEW RESEARCH SHOWS THAT CONSERVING INTACT WORKING LANDS MAKES CONSERVATION MORE EFFICIENT AND PRODUCES BETTER OUTCOMES
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Decisions on how to manage ecosystems and allocate resources have historically relied on one species to inform and drive conservation objectives. In this approach, one key species—like greater sage-grouse—serves as a surrogate, or representative, for the health of other wildlife or other aspects of the environment.
New research, led by Jason Tack with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and supported by Working Lands for Wildlife, shows that prioritizing intact landscapes results in more effective and efficient conservation than focusing on a single wildlife species.
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| Ask an Expert: New Science Backs WLFW’s Biome-Wide Conservation Approach
JASON TACK EXPLAINS HIS LATEST RESEARCH, WHAT IT MEANS FOR WILDLIFE AND FOR RANGELAND CONSERVATION
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We connected with lead author Jason Tack to learn more about his most recent paper, Grassland intactness outcompetes species as a more efficient surrogate in conservation design. Tack's research was based in north-central Montana, where working families have stewarded some of the largest remaining tracts of intact grass and shrublands in the U.S.
The paper serves as a proof-of-concept for WLFW’s proactive pivot from a species-specific approach to biome-wide frameworks for conservation action.
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Capital Press: Sage Grouse Success - Ranchers Crucial to Recovery of a Species
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ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS HOW RANCHERS ARE KEY TO WLFW'S VOLUNTARY, INCENTIVE-BASED APPROACH TO CONSERVATION AND KEY TO SUCCESSFUL SAGE GROUSE CONSERVATION EFFORTS
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Capital Press, a leading weekly periodical covering western agricultural news, recently highlighted the unprecedented success of the Sage Grouse Initiative (now part of Working Lands for Wildlife) and the key role ranchers have played in that success.
The article featured Tim Griffiths, the western coordinator for Working Lands for Wildlife, and shared some of the conservation successes that SGI and WLFW have achieved in sagebrush country since 2010, including working with ranchers and partners to conserve more than 9.7 million acres of sagebrush range.
According to Griffiths, "You can’t overstate the importance of ranchers. They’re absolutely essential. Our agency [the USDA-NRCS] owns no land and instead we rely 100% on the willingness of private landowners that want to conserve their privately owned working lands … they’re absolutely essential.”
Read the full article for more insights on why WLFW's model of voluntary, win-win conservation is so successful.
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It's a Wrap! Watch All Segements of NCBA's Cattlemen to Cattlemen Featuring WLFW's Work in the Great Plains
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WATCH SEGMENTS ANYTIME AT WLFW.ORG
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In 2022 and 2023, Cattlemen to Cattlemen featured the state-led NRCS Great Plains Grasslands Initiatives, with segments shot at multiple locations in Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, and South Dakota. The program centers around rancher leaders in each state as well as NRCS leadership and field staff, WLFW scientists, and partners like Pheasants Forever and the U.S. Forest Service.
The first full episode of the program aired nationally on November 29, 2022, with additional segments airing in 2023. The final episode, which aired October 17, 2023, highlights Working Lands for Wildlife, which is aimed at conserving habitat while also keeping working lands in the hands of ranchers and other landowners.
WLFW is grateful to the partners, producers, NRCS leadership, and NCBA's talented crew for helping produce this great resource.
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Check out this beautiful and inspiring video about Montana NRCS's work with private landowners and other partners to implement conservation that benefits wildlife, producers, and address the conservation challenges unique to the Big Sky State. Hear from ranchers, NRCS staff, conservation leaders, about how important private lands conservation is. Bonus: the video highlights some of Montana's most beautiful landscapes.
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This great article from Colorado State University highlights the benefits of low-tech wet meadow restoration techniques that boost drought resilience and help keep wet meadows wet during the dry parts of the year. Wet meadows and other mesic areas are rare but critical in the West and these simple techniques help produce up to 40% more wetland plant cover, even during times of drought. This additional vegetation benefits threatened Gunnison sage grouse and local ranchers. These are the same practices that WLFW promotes, having trained hundreds of conservation practitioners in the same practices highlighted in the article.
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When the Walker brothers - Wayne, Philip, and Caton - inherited the 7,500-acre 7 Oaks Ranch from their parents, decades of historic overgrazing had jeopardized the ranch's ecological health and production potential. Working with Texas NRCS, the brothers focused on conservation and implemented practices like replacing and upgrading fencing, prescribed burning, managed grazing, and developing water. In the last two decades, these changes have made the ranch more productive and today, wildlife like deer, quail, and turkey are regular visitors. Not only did the NRCS help directly, but it connected the brothers to other groups like Quail Forever and Texas Parks & Wildlife, which have also helped invest in the ranch's conservation focus.
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Kansas State's Agriculture Today podcast sat down with University of Nebraska-Lincoln's Dillon Fogarty, a WLFW-affiliated researcher, to discuss new paradigms for managing woody encroachment in the Great Plains. Dillon's clear explanations and deep knowledge help listeners better understand the proactive management strategies advocated by WLFW, includling strategies like Defend the Core and how understanding how risk and vulnerability helps prioritize where to work to reduce woody encroachment.
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In this installment from the "Our Amazing Grasslands" series, produced by South Dakota NRCS and partners, highlights how Mike Blaalid, a ranch manager based in Mitchell South Dakota, focuses on healthy grass as the basis of a successful operation. As Mike said, "Cows, I think, are one of the most important tools we can use to rebuild our soils from all the destruction we've caused with tillage." In an area that's losing ranchers and native grasslands to crops, Mike's management focus provides hope and inspiration.
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This great post from the Texas NRCS shares the story of Army Veteran, Justin Glenn, and his partnership with the NRCS. Glenn lives on and works Glenn Acres, a 187-acre ranch, in addition to his full-time job. Through EQIP, Glenn has worked with the NRCS to improve fencing and grazing practices, plant native grasses, improve water, and plan a prescribed burn. This success story highlights how even relatively small acres worked part-time by dedicated owners can benefit tremendously from NRCS programs. Be sure to check out the story map about the Glenn's partnership with NRCS.
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This great post from the Kansas NRCS is part love-letter to the rolling prairies of western Kansas and part success story featuring Hatcher Ranch and its owner, Treg Hatcher. Drought, overuse, and prairie dogs had degraded the ranch's grasslands and overall health. However, the ranch lay in a priority area for Lesser Prairie-Chickens, so Treg was able to access funding through EQIP and begin the long process of restoring Hatcher Ranch. His early successes led to participation in the Grassland Conservation Reserve Program. Today, Hatcher Ranch is model of successful ranching in western Kansas.
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Did you miss the NRCS webinar about the expanded conservation practices now eligible for Climate-Smart funding through the Inflation Reduction Act? The webinar is now available for on-demand viewing. It's a great resource for answering questions about this unique opportunity.
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This WLFW post highlights the recently expanded conservation practices now eligible for funding through the Inflation Reduction Act. Maintaining and improving shrub and grasslands is good for the climate, good for wildlife, and good for producers. The post details the conservation practices that address the main threats facing western landscapes and the practices now eligible for IRA funding.
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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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