Sage Grouse Initiative

Latest Report Shows Promising Progress To Protect The Sagebrush Sea

August 9, 2016

Partners delivered gains for wildlife and working lands across the West

Download the SGI quarterly report for April-June 2016

View past reports here

Each quarter, the Intermountain West Joint Venture produces a report to tally up the work of the Sage Grouse Initiative’s Strategic Watershed Action Team. That team represents dozens of partners working in sage grouse strongholds to conserve wildlife habitat and sustain ranching operations.

This latest report chronicles the results from April through June across 11 western states, including:

• Collaborative efforts to conserve over 2.8 million acres of habitat for sage grouse by improving rangeland, reducing bird moralities from fence collisions, and removing encroaching conifers.
• New research on sage grouse genetics, conifer removal, and cropland cultivation risk.
• Tools available for partners including new layers on SGI’s Interactive Web App and Conserve Our Western Roots resources.
• Recent webinars and workshops related to sagebrush and range conservation.
• Stories about SGI’s conservation efforts on the Rockin’ TD Ranch in Nevada and Mark and Patti Bennett’s ranch in Oregon.
• Our most popular Tweets and Facebook posts, including fun videos and photos of birds on the range.

Did you know?

=> SGI has enrolled 1,300 ranchers in programs that are good for the bird and the herd.

=> Every $1 of partner investment results in $69 of habitat improvement.

=> 5 million acres have been conserved since 2010.

=> 31% of sage grouse habitat is on private land, including 80% of the brood-rearing habitat.

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The Sage Grouse Initiative is a partnership-based, science-driven effort that uses voluntary incentives to proactively conserve America’s western rangelands, wildlife, and rural way of life. This initiative is part of Working Lands For Wildlife, which is led by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.

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