“But when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decides in 2015 whether to list the grouse as a threatened creature under the Endangered Species Act, it will be looking at the contribution private lands play in the survival of the bird.” Read more
Reporter Rocky Barker of the Idaho Statesman covered the efforts of private landowners working in partnership with agencies to restore sage grouse habitat invaded by Junipers in the March 14, newspaper. Read the full article here.
Excerpted from the article, Barker reports on SGI:
“The Sage Grouse Initiative, a coalition of public and private organizations, can tap federal money authorized in the farm bill. The program includes helping ranchers write prescribed grazing plans, mark fences so that grouse don’t fly or run into them, remove juniper, and retrofit cattle water troughs so grouse can get to the them.
Since 2010, the NRCS has obligated nearly $8 million for 99 projects on 437,000 acres of private and public lands, said Ron Brooks, the agency’s Sage Grouse Initiative resource conservationist.”
Saving sage-grouse from the trees: A proactive solution to reducing a key
threat to a candidate species
SGI News Release on Juniper Removal Study
Also, please visit the SGI page on proactive conservation.
For additional information, contact one of our staff members.
High Country News