voluntary 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.

New Science Backs WLFW’s Biome-Wide Conservation Approach
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New Science Backs WLFW’s Biome-Wide Conservation Approach

Research shows that WLFW's updated approach to conserving intact working landscapes produces better conservation results than focusing on a single ...
USDA Expands Conservation Practices Qualifying for Climate-Smart Funding
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USDA Expands Conservation Practices Qualifying for Climate-Smart Funding

Learn about the USDA-NRCS's recent expansion of the list of practices and activities eligible for Climate-Smart funding through the Inflation Reduction ...
Creating Jobs Through Conservation in Southwest Montana
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Creating Jobs Through Conservation in Southwest Montana

In southwest Montana, a creative partnership is improving sagebrush habitat, providing jobs, and empowering youth, one project at a ...
New Year, New Connections, New Opportunities
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New Year, New Connections, New Opportunities

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 ...
Conserving Prime Hay Ground As Well As Colorado’s Famous Elk and Deer
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Conserving Prime Hay Ground As Well As Colorado’s Famous Elk and Deer

The Etchart Family worked with the NRCS, TNC, and the CO Cattlemen's Agricultural Land Trust to place much of the ranch in a conservation easement protecting this prime ...
Study Demonstrates Importance of Voluntary Conservation for Grassland Birds
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Study Demonstrates Importance of Voluntary Conservation for Grassland Birds

Study highlights how voluntary conservation protected habitat for 4.5 million grassland songbirds, and boosted populations by 1.8 million ...
Podcast: The New Great Plains Grasslands Initiative with NRCS
Podcast

Podcast: The New Great Plains Grasslands Initiative with NRCS

Learn about the USDA-NRCS' Working Lands for Wildlife efforts and the Great Plains Grassland Initiatives in this episode of On the Wing, a podcast from Pheasants Forever and ...
Sage Grouse Populations Grow Faster After Tree Removal
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Sage Grouse Populations Grow Faster After Tree Removal

New study shows that sage grouse population growth rates are 12% higher following long-term conifer ...
Washington Ranch Preserves Sagebrush Rangeland in Perpetuity
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Washington Ranch Preserves Sagebrush Rangeland in Perpetuity

New conservation easement in Washington state preserves more than 2,000 acres of native sagebrush range in critical sage grouse habitat, adding to a 6,800-acre easement the ...
Sagebrush Framework in Focus: Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching
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Sagebrush Framework in Focus: Wildlife Conservation Through Sustainable Ranching

Dig into the Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush ...
E&E News: USDA plans aim to bolster rangeland wildlife conservation
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E&E News: USDA plans aim to bolster rangeland wildlife conservation

E&E News reports on the Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush Biome. Reprinted with ...
Virtual Workshop | Low-Tech Riverscape Restoration – Aug. 11-14, 2020
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Virtual Workshop | Low-Tech Riverscape Restoration – Aug. 11-14, 2020

Join WLFW and Utah State University for a free, four-day, virtual workshop focused on low-tech, process-based riverscape ...
New Report Highlights Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative Outcomes Since 2010
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New Report Highlights Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative Outcomes Since 2010

The Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative is a Working Lands for Wildlife effort that is focused on rangeland resiliency in the southern Great Plains. Check out this new report to ...
Bugle Magazine | Thinking Like a Beaver
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Bugle Magazine | Thinking Like a Beaver

Read about how volunteer-led, low-tech, process-based restoration of streams and meadows in the west is helping restore critical habitat for elk and other wildlife in this ...
Western Working Lands Snapshot | Pollinators
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Western Working Lands Snapshot | Pollinators

Learn all about pollination and pollinators in this Western Working Lands ...
Ask an Expert | Mitch Faulkner, 2020 Rangeland Management Specialist of the Year, Talks Partnerships and More
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Ask an Expert | Mitch Faulkner, 2020 Rangeland Management Specialist of the Year, Talks Partnerships and More

Mitch Faulkner, 2020 NRCS Rangeland Management Specialist of the Year, talks about the partnerships that have advanced rangeland conservation across boundaries in South ...
Montana Outdoors Magazine Article | The Herd and the Bird
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Montana Outdoors Magazine Article | The Herd and the Bird

Magazine Article | This article originally appeared in the March-April 2020 issue of Montana Outdoors, the magazine of Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks. It is reposted here with ...
SGI’s “Ranching First” Approach Proves Key to Protecting Ranch in Washington
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SGI’s “Ranching First” Approach Proves Key to Protecting Ranch in Washington

The Keane Ranch is now protected from development in perpetuity thanks to a conservation easement supported, in part, by the ...
PHEASANTS FOREVER Magazine | Of Partners, Promises and Prairie Treasures
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PHEASANTS FOREVER Magazine | Of Partners, Promises and Prairie Treasures

Magazine Story | Pheasants Forever's Spring 2020 Journal of Upland Conservation features how the nonprofit works with SGI and other partners to benefit a variety of grouse ...
Nature’s Engineers: How Beavers Boost Streamflows and Restore Habitat
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Nature’s Engineers: How Beavers Boost Streamflows and Restore Habitat

Almost like magic...How beavers boost streamflows and restore habitat with a little help from ...
Low tech riparian restoration hits the ground in Idaho
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Low tech riparian restoration hits the ground in Idaho

In Idaho, low-tech stream restoration is taking off, thanks in part, to SGI's workshops and education ...
Quantifying Outcomes Improves Conservation Effectiveness
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Quantifying Outcomes Improves Conservation Effectiveness

Since 2012, Working Lands for Wildlife has partnered with the Conservation Effects Assessment Project to co-produce 37 peer-reviewed studies that measure conservation ...
Birds of a Feather on Working Lands
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Birds of a Feather on Working Lands

Read about how Working Lands for Wildlife is benefiting the golden-winged warbler and the greater sage grouse, two bird species that have more in common than ...
Working Lands for Wildlife Initiatives Benefit Songbirds Too!
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Working Lands for Wildlife Initiatives Benefit Songbirds Too!

Science to Solutions | New research shows that prairie songbirds benefit from lesser prairie-chicken-focused conservation ...
Sage Whiz Quiz | Ranching
Sage Whiz Quiz

Sage Whiz Quiz | Ranching

How much do you know about ranching in the West? Take this Sage Whiz Quiz and test your ranching ...
Podcast: Sage Grouse Biology, Habitat, and How to Hunt Them
Podcast

Podcast: Sage Grouse Biology, Habitat, and How to Hunt Them

The On the Wing podcast talks with WLFW's Tim Griffiths and Pheasant Forever's Ron Leathers and Michael Brown about Working Lands for Wildlife's conservation efforts that ...
Sustainable Ranching in Utah: A Boon For Wildlife And Livestock
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Sustainable Ranching in Utah: A Boon For Wildlife And Livestock

Sustainable Ranching in Utah: A Boon for Wildlife and Livestock | Read how Stephen and Kris Ellis keep their family tradition alive and strong on the Circle Bar ...
NEW Story Map Highlights Rural Communities & Positive Partnerships
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NEW Story Map Highlights Rural Communities & Positive Partnerships

Check out this new story map that highlights the people working together across sagebrush rangeland to protect the places that matter to ...
Bats, Butterflies, Bobwhites and More! New Videos About Working Lands For Wildlife
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Bats, Butterflies, Bobwhites and More! New Videos About Working Lands For Wildlife

Learn how NRCS has been scaling up the cooperative, science-based conservation model that's working for sagebrush wildlife to focal landscapes across ...
Lessons from the Heath Hen
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Lessons from the Heath Hen

From the failed attempt to save heath hens from extinction, we learned the importance of early intervention...and laid the groundwork for cooperative conservation of other ...
Healthy Range Is Productive Range For Sage Grouse, Prairie Chickens, And Cows
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Healthy Range Is Productive Range For Sage Grouse, Prairie Chickens, And Cows

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 ...
USDA Unveils Three-Year Conservation Strategy for Lesser Prairie-Chicken on Working Rangelands
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USDA Unveils Three-Year Conservation Strategy for Lesser Prairie-Chicken on Working Rangelands

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, ...
Plans To Save Bi-State Sage Grouse in Nevada Gain Momentum
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Plans To Save Bi-State Sage Grouse in Nevada Gain Momentum

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 ...
Historic Conservation Campaign Protects Greater Sage-Grouse | ESA Listing Averted
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Historic Conservation Campaign Protects Greater Sage-Grouse | ESA Listing Averted

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 ...
New England Cottontail | Another Success Story for Proactive Voluntary Conservation
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New England Cottontail | Another Success Story for Proactive Voluntary Conservation

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 ...
Bi-Partisan Commentary | Voluntary Conservation Works Across Party Lines
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Bi-Partisan Commentary | Voluntary Conservation Works Across Party Lines

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 ...