Photo: Noppadol Paothong
conservation
We provide scientific reports, project profiles, technical tools, videos, photos, field guides, and links that tell the story of how cooperative conservation is making a difference for working lands and wildlife across the West.
News
Grit, Grass and Gated Pipe Help A Wyoming Ranch Thrive
December 8, 2025
Colter McCumber is a generational rancher in Hot Springs County, Wyoming. He partnered with the USDA NRCS to modernize his water system and improve fences, benefiting cattle ...
News
Western Working Lands Snapshot | Kīpuka in the Sagebrush Biome
September 25, 2025
Surrounded by lava rocks that protect them from fire, grazing, and other disturbances, kīpuka are islands of intact vegetation that give a glimpse into how the sagebrush ...
News
Meet the American Burying Beetle
December 26, 2024
Get to know this unique species and how long-term conservation efforts in Nebraska are giving its population a ...
News
Western Working Lands Snapshot | Great Basin
December 10, 2024
Learn about the topography, natural history, and communities in the Great Basin. This spectacular swath of arid rangeland covers parts of Nevada, Idaho, California, Utah, and ...
Publication Alert
Getting to the Core: SGI Evaluates 12 years of Conservation through the Lens of the Sagebrush Conservation Design
October 15, 2024
SGI’s proactive, voluntary conservation model has conserved sagebrush cores but analysis shows more work to be done on invasive annual ...
News
From Bird To Biome: Keeping the range intact for wildlife and people
September 27, 2024
Learn more about our shift from species-specific conservation to biome-centric ...
Podcast
Podcast: BOSH Project Restores Sagebrush Sea at Grand Scale
September 25, 2024
The BOSH Project is the largest restoration project in the sagebrush biome. Learn how it came together, what it's acheived, and what's next in this great podcast from The Art ...
News
Sustainable Ranching in Utah: A Boon For Wildlife And Livestock
June 12, 2024
Stephen and Kris Ellis are keeping their family tradition of caring for the land and their livestock alive on the Circle Bar Ranch in northern ...
News
Western Working Lands Snapshot | Wildflowers
June 10, 2024
Learn all about wildflowers, which are important for animals, pollination, and soil health on grazing lands in the western ...
Publication Alert
New science incorporates genetics and connectivity into sage grouse conservation
March 8, 2023
New research adds connectivity to sage grouse conservation strategies, opening new opportunities for conserving travel pathways that facilitate gene flow among sage grouse ...
News
New Year, New Connections, New Opportunities
January 26, 2022
With two Frameworks for Conservation Action addressing the most pressing threats facing the sagebrush and Great Plains grassland biomes, 2022 promises to be a big year for ...
News
Great Plains Grasslands Framework in Focus: Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
April 22, 2021
Dig into the Framework for Conservation Action in the Great Plains Grasslands ...
News
USDA-NRCS Press Release: New Frameworks Guide Conservation Action on America’s Working Rangelands
April 6, 2021
Learn about the new Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush Biome through this post and a webinar on April 8th, ...
News
A Conservation Dream Come True
March 2, 2021
This story originally appeared in Nebraskaland Magazine, the magazine of the Nebraska Game and Parks Commission. Reposted here with permission.
News
A Landowner’s Journey to Using Prescribed Fire – Repost – Nebraska Game and Parks Commission
December 9, 2020
Jim Jenkins worked to remove eastern redcedar trees from his Nebraska ranch for years, with limited success. Then he learned about how prescribed fire could do the work for ...
News
Ask an Expert | Mitch Faulkner, 2020 Rangeland Management Specialist of the Year, Talks Partnerships and More
May 27, 2020
Mitch Faulkner, 2020 NRCS Rangeland Management Specialist of the Year, talks about the partnerships that have advanced rangeland conservation across boundaries in South ...
News
Ask an Expert | When it comes to sage grouse habitat: Don’t sweat the small stuff
February 27, 2020
Ask a Expert | When it Comes to Sage Grouse Habitat, Don’t Sweat the Small Stuff: A Conversation with Joe Smith, Working Lands for Wildlife ...
News
Conserving prairies for chickens helps millions of songbirds too
July 18, 2019
Science to Solutions | New research shows that implementing conservation practices like prescribed grazing increases songbird populations in the southern Great Plains, while ...
News
Western Working Lands for Wildlife 2019 Workshop – Rangeland Resiliency
June 25, 2019
Read about the workshop and conference in Twin Falls, Idaho and follow along with the second-day field tour across Idaho and ...
Ask an Expert
Sage Grouse Populations Grow When Conifers are Removed
May 14, 2019
Ask an Expert - Andrew Olsen explains his research that shows sage grouse populations rise 12% following sustained and targeted conifer ...
News
Big Picture of Woodland Management in Sagebrush Country
May 9, 2019
Science to Solutions - New research highlights reduction and expansion of conifer encroachment in sagebrush ...
News
Woody Invasion Impacts Water on Great Plains
March 26, 2019
Science to Solutions - New research details impacts to water from encroaching eastern redcedar and other conifers on landscapes in the Great Plains. Similar impacts occur on ...
News
Patterns in Rangeland Productivity and Land Ownership and What They Mean for Conservation
March 6, 2019
Ask an Expert: Dr. Brady Allred, Associate Professor of Rangeland Ecology, University of Montana | Patterns in Rangeland Productivity and Land Ownership and What They Mean for ...
News
How Can Emerging Technology Help Conserve Rangeland?
December 5, 2018
Research scientist Dr. Matthew Jones explains how cloud computing and machine learning are changing the way we visualize and manage ...
News
Oregon Ranchers Sustain “Heart Of The Desert”
November 12, 2018
Maintaining an “emerald island” in the middle of the desert is no small task. Here’s how the Fitzgeralds do it on their Oregon ...
News
Partnering To Conserve A Sagebrush Landscape
October 24, 2018
Innovative partnerships with private landowners and public land managers on working rangelands in Southwest Montana are conserving sagebrush ...
News
NEW SCIENCE | Middle Ground Found On The Range
September 27, 2018
New research shows grazing access to public lands in the western U.S. can be good for ranching and ...
News
New Technology For Landowners And Resource Managers Revolutionizes Rangeland Monitoring
September 18, 2018
by Justin Fritscher, NRCS | New free app provides the first-ever vegetation cover maps for rangelands from the Great Plains to the Pacific ...
News
What Is Low-Tech Stream Restoration?
August 27, 2018
River expert Joe Wheaton explains how simple, cost-effective, hand-built structures are helping repair streams across the ...
News
Range Conservation Across Continents: What Australia and America Have In Common
August 6, 2018
Field tour in Wyoming illustrates how voluntary conservation strategies working on behalf of America's sage grouse can also help Australia's ...
News
Combatting Cheatgrass On Private Ranch Lands In Wyoming Benefits Sage Grouse
July 1, 2018
Wyoming landowner DeWitt Morris is creating a model for other ranchers on how to thwart invasive cheatgrass on Mountain Springs ...
News
Lessons & Photos from SGI’s 8th Annual Workshop: Combating Wildfire & Weeds
June 18, 2018
The 2018 SGI field tour and presentations focused on cooperative, science-based conservation that's working to thwart fire and invasives in sagebrush ...
News
#FridaysOnTheFarm: Restoring Sagebrush Country With ‘Modern Wildfire’
June 8, 2018
Through the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI), private landowners across Eastern Oregon are volunteering to perform proactive conservation treatments on their rangeland to promote ...
News
NEW SCIENCE: Visualizing Sage Grouse Habitat As “Hubs & Spokes”
May 17, 2018
New research helps prioritize sage grouse conservation by ranking the importance of leks to the species' overall genetic connectivity across the range, likening certain areas ...
News
Idaho Models “3 C’s”: Collaboration, Cooperation, Conservation
May 8, 2018
In Idaho, agencies and landowners are working together across boundaries to restore sagebrush ...
News
Harnessing Technology Improves Conservation Effectiveness
March 20, 2018
Innovative Web App increases conservation effectiveness on working lands in the American West by matching the right practices to the right places using emerging science and ...
News
New Online Tool Shows Songbird Abundance Across Sagebrush Country
January 16, 2018
Check out the latest map additions to the SGI Web App, which allow users to easily visualize songbird distribution, bolstering multi-species conservation across the American ...
News
FAIR CHASE Magazine | The Value of Sagebrush Country
December 8, 2017
by Josh Millspaugh | This feature in the December 2017 issue of Fair Chase Magazine highlights how sage grouse conservation benefits hunters and a host of wildlife ...
News
What’s It Like To Photograph Sage Grouse?
October 23, 2017
Wildlife photographer, Noppadol Paothong, spent 5 years on his newly released book, Sage Grouse: Icon of the West. Learn how and why he created this beautiful book featuring ...
Ask An Expert
Do Elk Need Sagebrush?
September 11, 2017
Historically, elk were found in all but five states in the U.S. However, due to over-hunting, elk populations declined from more than 10 million to less than 100,000 by the ...
News
Grazing Management In Perspective: A Compatible Tool For Sage Grouse Conservation
August 28, 2017
New research shows that — done right — livestock grazing may help conserve sage grouse habitat by keeping working ranches profitable and ...
News
New Research Provides Insights into Sage Grouse DNA
October 3, 2016
by Jennifer Hayes and Brianna Randall | New SGI research finds five genetic subpopulations of sage grouse in Montana and the Dakotas, which are synonymous with the existing ...
News
Tracking Success – 2016 Report | Maintaining Momentum To Conserve Sagebrush Country
September 22, 2016
As the Sage Grouse Initiative finishes our 6th year, we are proud to be a model for how to enhance working lands and wildlife. Check out our "Tracking Success - 2016 Report" ...
News
Report: Maintaining Sagebrush-Covered Landscapes Keeps Water on the Land for Ranchers and Wildlife
August 4, 2016
by Justin Fritscher | Removing invading conifer trees improves the health of sagebrush ecosystems, providing better habitat for wildlife and better forage for livestock. And ...
News
New Web-Based Tool Helps Save Sage Grouse From Fence Collisions
July 14, 2016
SGI's interactive web app now features a map layer that helps land managers prioritize where to mark high-risk fences to protect birds. This user-friendly tool allows ranchers ...
News
SGI Introduces New Resources That Show Why Roots Matter in the Sage-Steppe
April 21, 2016
In the West's sagebrush sea, most of the plant matter grows below your feet -- just like an upside-down forest. SGI is releasing a new poster and postcard that show the ...
News
New Sage Grouse Strategy Unveiled: $760 Million Invested by 2018
August 27, 2015
The Sage Grouse Initiative has enrolled 1,129 ranchers to conserve 4.4 million acres. We plan to double those numbers by 2018 with a new investment strategy that invests ...
News
New SGI Science to Solutions Report: Sage Grouse Conservation Benefits Migratory Mule Deer
March 31, 2015
Sage grouse habitat conservation protects critical habitat for mule deer, according to a study highlighted in the newest Sage Grouse Initiative Science to Solutions ...
News
Sage Grouse Conservation Benefits Migratory Mule Deer
March 15, 2015
This report shows how habitat conservation for sage grouse, considered an umbrella species, can also protect critical habitat for mule deer. Scientists found that sage grouse ...
News
SGI “Outcomes in Conservation” Report Demonstrates Positive Impact of $300 Million Investment in West
March 12, 2015
The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) today issued a report showing that since 2010 USDA and its partners in the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) have worked with ...
News
Predicting the Outcome of Wyoming’s Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy
June 19, 2014
This recent study by The Nature Conservancy, University of Wyoming and the Sage Grouse Initiative finds that Wyoming’s strategy, combined with targeted conservation ...