Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
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Save the Date: Virtual Workshop - Defending and Growing the Core by Breaking the Cycle of Annual Grass Invasions - April 3, 2024
JOIN WLFW AND PARTNERS FOR THIS FREE VIRTUAL WORKSHOP HOSTED BY THE UNIVERSITY OF WYOMING'S INSTITUTE FOR MANAGING ANNUAL GRASSES INVADING NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS (IMAGINE)
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Invasive annual grasses–such as cheatgrass, medusahead, and ventenata–are the leading cause of degradation and loss of America’s sagebrush grasslands, reducing forage and habitat, fueling more frequent and larger wildfires, and threatening rural economies. While invasive grasses are widespread, there remains a generational opportunity to proactively address this threat. However, many land managers may not be equipped with the information needed to plan and implement effective treatments.
In this one-day virtual workshop, participants will learn about guiding principles, strategic planning processes, tools, and tactics for managing annual grass invasion in sagebrush country.
Participants will be introduced to the proactive “defend and grow the core” management philosophy, which emphasizes protecting intact and functioning native plant communities, and expanding them through improved management techniques, rather than initially starting with the most degraded areas. This workshop seeks to inspire participants and start conversations across the sagebrush biome on how to meet the invasive annual grass problem head on in their own watersheds. We hope this information will be especially useful to any land manager, landowner, or conservation practitioner working to conserve and protect the sagebrush biome.
DETAILS
April 3, 2024
9:00 am to 4:00 pm MT
Online via Zoom
Free and open to anyone
REGISTER EARLY, SPACE IS LIMITED!
The workshop is one element of a broader, multi-year Tech Transfer Partnership, initiated and supported in part by the Natural Resources Conservation Service and Working Lands for Wildlife, to equip conservation planners, land managers, and private landowners with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to effectively reduce invasive annual grasses in the sagebrush biome—directly supporting partners implementing Working Lands for Wildlife’s Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush Biome and the interagency Sagebrush Conservation Design.
IMAGINE, housed within the University of Wyoming, uses co-produced science, outreach, and education programs to develop, implement, evaluate, and adjust statewide and regional strategies for mitigating impacts of invasive annual grasses in rangelands while empowering informed decision-making by landowners and managers.
For examples of the Defend the Core philosophy (pioneered by NRCS and WLFW) being put into action by our partners to proactively address invasive annuals, see: Western Governor’s Association’s Toolkit for Annual Grass Management, Idaho’s Cheatgrass Challenge, and Oregon’s SageCon Invasives Initiative.
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Riverscape and Rangeland Recovery in the Middle Bear River
STORYMAP FEATURES LOW-TECH, PROCESS-BASED RESTORATION
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This well-produced storymap highlights a low-tech, process-based riparian restoration project in the Middle Bear River watershed in Utah.
WLFW partners were key players in this effort, including Anabranch Solutions, Pheasants Forever, the U.S. Forest Service, and Utah State University.
WLFW has helped pioneer and share these low-tech, process-based riparian restoration techniques, and we love sharing stories that show how this work is being applied across the West to heal degraded waterways for wildlife and people. Be sure to scroll all the way through the storymap to see the close encounter with a moose!
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| Working Ranch Magazine: Taking on Woody Encroachment
STORY HIGHLIGHTS THE IMMENSE CHALLENGE WOODY ENCROACHMENT POSES TO THE GREAT PLAINS
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WLFW's science advisor for the Great Plains Grassland Biome, Dr. Dirac Twidwell of the University of Nebraska, takes center stage in this highly informative story about the challenge that encroaching woody species poses to the Great Plains.
In addition to featuring Dr. Twidwell, the story highlights the "Reducing Woody Encroachment in Grasslands: A Guide for Understanding Risk and Vulnerability," co-produced by WLFW, UNL Extension, and OSU Extension.
It's well worth a read for anyone struggling with woody encroachment or wanting to learn more.
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Not at the 2024 Society for Range Management Conference But Want the Scoop? We've Got You Covered!
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JOINTLY ORGANIZED SYMPOSIUM ON SAGEBRUSH CONSERVATION DESIGN WILL BE RECORDED AND MADE AVAILABLE FOR ON-DEMAND VIEWING
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WLFW-affiliated scientists are presenting the latest in rangeland research during a symposium organized with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service during the 2024 Society for Range Management Conference, happening this week - January 28-February 1 - in Sparks, Nevada. SRM's annual gathering is the premier rangeland conference in North Ameica, and for the past several years, WLFW-affiliated scientists have presented their latest rangeland research in a symposium at the conference.
This year's two-part symposium kicks off on Wednesday, Jan. 31 and includes 12 papers authored by a wide variety of rangeland scientists. The symposium is called "Sagebrush Biome Conservation Design Phase 2: Implementing Hope While Managing Change."
The symposium is aimed at furthering the scientific underpinnings of the Sagebrush Conservation Design and is focused on three themes: Ecological Relevance of SEI, Geographies of Action, and Geographies of Winning.
The Sagebrush Conservation Design (SCD) identifies the best remaining ecologically intact
sagebrush areas. The SCD is an adaptive, biome-wide tool to identify and address landscape-level threats by supporting the strategic allocation of conservation effort and resources. These threats include invasive annual grass, wildfire, expanding conifers, and human development, all of which impact a diverse suite of land uses, values, and ecosystem services.
All of the symposium presentations will be recorded and made available in February after the conference for on-demand viewing. Stay tuned for details about when these videos will be available. (Note: WLFW-affiliated researchers are participating in other SRM presentations, unrelated to this symposium, and those presentations will not be recorded.)
At SRM? Please be sure to join the symposium on Wednesday, January 31, from 10:00 a.m. to noon and again from 1:00 to 3:00 p.m.
In addition to presenting this work at SRM, this work and a selection of other papers will be included in a special issue of the Rangeland Ecology and Management Journal later this year.
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This story highlights how eastern redcedar trees are impacting the Great Plains, with a focus on their impact to water supplies. The drought-tolerant trees have a big impact on water quantity and that can lead to water quality problems as highlighted in the story. Controlled, or prescribed, burning is one of the most efficient ways of removing eastern redcedars, and the story includes a few examples of where this tool has been used successfully in the Plains.
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Cropland conversion is one of the biggest threats to native grasslands in the Great Plains. Fortunately there's a new partnership in the Southern High Plains between ranchers, conservation groups, and the beef industry that is helping ranchers keep grasslands productive and intact. The recently launched Southern High Plains Initiative provides payments to ranchers who keep their land in grass or convert cropland back to grass. Some of the biggest beef buyers in the country, including Burger King and Cargill, have contributed to the program, and ranchers participating in the program are realizing benefits like cooler soil temperatures and better forage production on top of the monthly payments.
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This fun, photo-heavy post from the Bureau of Land Management shows off sagebrush country in winter. Featuring photos from Tom Koerner of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, the post shares how sage grouse survive the winter and how healthy sagebrush vegetation helps keep snow on the ground so it can replenish soil moisture when temps warm up.
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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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