Home on the Range
When we work across public and private lands and coordinate between federal and state agencies, we can achieve the scale, collaboration, and outcomes needed to keep the West's migratory big game healthy and abundant.
Migratory big game like elk, mule deer, pronghorn, moose, and big horn sheep rely on large and connected landscapes to meet their daily, seasonal, and annual needs. Throughout the year, these animals move through a diverse array of habitats — including forests, high deserts, desert shrubland, sagebrush communities, semi-arid grasslands, grasslands, and wetlands — because the highest quality forage for any given season is rarely contained within a single pasture, ranch, or landscape.
State fish and wildlife agencies, which hold management authority over migratory big game populations, have identified that these species face increasing threats to habitat quality and connectivity. Improving habitat quality requires restoring native plant communities, improving forest health, and addressing invasive species. Improving connectivity requires mitigating physical barriers, such as highways and fences, and minimizing landscape fragmentation.
During their movements, big game often cross both public and private lands. Maintaining seamless connectivity across these jurisdictions ensures that herds can access high-quality nutrition necessary to be resilient and healthy.
This map shows the overlap between state wildlife agencies under the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and WLFW's framework-based efforts in the sagebrush and Great Plains biomes.
Robust herds of migratory big game serve as vital economic pillars for the West through big game hunting, wildlife viewing, and outdoor tourism that inject billions of dollars into rural communities annually. Securing connected landscapes sustains the working lands and wildlife that underpin western economies and the nation’s supply of food and fiber.
This Framework is designed to guide NRCS and FSA leadership and staff as they consider opportunities to support big game and working lands.
This Framework marks the third installment in the western WLFW portfolio, following the established success of producer-driven strategies detailed for the Sagebrush and Great Plains biomes.
Building upon USDA’s established conservation legacy, this Framework marks the first time the FSA has been fully integrated into a WLFW-led strategy. The unification of NRCS’s and FSA’s programmatic strengths enable producers to more easily navigate the full suite of available Farm Bill tools to enhance the integrity of migratory landscapes.
WLFW’s approach to migratory big game conservation focuses on ensuring these iconic species can access the resources they need. That means addressing landscape and habitat health alongside movement corridors that allow these animals to move across the West.
Four of the primary threats to migratory big game are addressed in the Frameworks for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush and Great Plains biomes: invasive annual grasses, woody plant encroachment, land use conversion, and mesic resource degradation. Two others - degraded forest health and barriers to movement/fence permeability - are directly addressed in the Migratory Big Game Framework.
“On our ranch, we’ve leaned into the full strength of the Farm Bill – incorporating a multitude of programs to enhance this operation. By partnering with the USDA, together we’re ensuring that this stays a family ranch for generations to come.”
~Allen Hogg, Owner, Lazy VB Cattle, Wyoming
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Where There’s Width, There’s A Way (For Big Game To Move)
WLFW-affiliated research from Wyoming informs how residential development in the West can balance housing growth with the movement needs of migrating big game.
Science Publication
Mule deer response to invasive annual grasses: implications for strategic management in sagebrush priority areas
Science Publication
Reconciling scale using the Resist-Accept-Direct (RAD) Framework to improve management of woody encroachment in grasslands
