Sage grouse and lesser prairie-chickens both need healthy rangeland to thrive. So do cattle. Learn more about how NRCS is supporting range conservation practices that help these birds as well as agricultural producers.

Just like in sage grouse country, the recipe for success to save the lesser prairie-chicken (an iconic grassland bird of the southern Great Plains) is investing in proactive, collaborative conservation efforts on private lands.

By Sean Whaley | “We’re ‘all in’ to make a difference for this bird over the long term,” said Thad Heater, Sage Grouse Initiative’s national coordinator, in this recent Las Vegas Review-Journal article.

An historic conservation partnership helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determine that the species did not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act. Now in its sixth year, the Sage Grouse Initiative is a key catalyst for the voluntary, partnership-based work that is conserving America’s sagebrush sea.

Landowners on the East Coast brought about a major success today with their voluntary conservation efforts for the New England cottontail. Partners announced that foresters and farmers have helped prevent the need to list the New England cottontail under the Endangered Species Act.

A new bi-partisan commentary came out yesterday in Roll Call by Bruce Knight and Dave White, both former chiefs for the Natural Resources Conservation Service. These two conservation experts agree that voluntary programs–like the Sage Grouse Initiative–that improve water, soil, and wildlife habitat are programs that unite Republicans and Democrats.