Pheasants Forever Adding Weight to National Sage-Grouse Initiative
OutdoorHub 08.17.11
Saint Paul, Minn. – August 17, 2011- Pheasants Forever is adding organizational support to the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service’s (NRCS) aggressive Sage-Grouse Initiative. The Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) has received $4 million in funding from NRCS to strengthen the implementation of that initiative through partnerships. In turn, Pheasants Forever has been selected to manage the majority of those funds and additional federal funds from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to build field delivery, scientific knowledge, as well as communications capacity for the Sage-Grouse Initiative.
Last year, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined the sage-grouse as warranted for listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In an effort to avoid the significant ramifications associated with ESA listing, NRCS launched the Sage-Grouse Initiative – a bold effort including many partners to achieve spatially targeted, landscape-scale sage-grouse habitat conservation – using Farm Bill conservation programs. In keeping with NRCS’ original mission, the initiative aims to conserve sage-grouse populations through support of sustainable ranching in areas of critical sagebrush habitat.
The IWJV, a public-private partnership that coordinates bird conservation in the Intermountain West, has received the funds through an Interagency Agreement between NRCS and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In turn, the IWJV is entering into a Cooperative Agreement with Pheasants Forever to help facilitate fiscal administration and partnership-based implementation of the Sage-Grouse Initiative. “Because of our expertise in upland bird conservation through Farm Bill programs and habitat restoration, Pheasants Forever is a perfect match to help bring the sage-grouse back from the brink,” said Howard Vincent, Pheasants Forever’s President and CEO.
Sagebrush-steppe habitat is critical to some of the most important and at-risk wildlife species in the Intermountain West, including the iconic sage-grouse. Today, sagebrush habitat is rapidly being lost, degraded or fragmented by residential and commercial subdivisions, tillage agriculture, energy development, conifer encroachment and catastrophic wildfires. To help, the Sage-Grouse Initiative is providing funding to establish 17 range conservationist and wildlife biologist positions for three years in areas where human capital is the only thing limiting Sage-Grouse Initiative implementation.
“This is a classic example of cooperative conservation, where numerous partners came together to assist with funds to put trained professionals on the ground to deliver the Sage-Grouse Initiative,” said Sam Lawry, Pheasants Forever’s Western Farm Bill Coordinator. “I am excited that Pheasants Forever can be a part of this national conservation effort, and expand the delivery of Farm Bill conservation programs in the West.”
The Sage-Grouse Initiative
The Sage-Grouse Initiative targets program delivery within high sage grouse abundance centers or ‘core areas’ to help maintain large and intact grazing lands. This new ‘conservation triage’ approach enables NRCS to prioritize conservation program implementation in the right places to expect a positive sage grouse population-level response. In FY 2010, 40,000 acres of encroached conifers were contracted for removal, improving forage available for livestock and wildlife. By year’s end, the Sage-Grouse Initiative will implement improved grazing systems on 2,600 square miles of large and intact sagebrush grasslands, an area equivalent to 2,200 football fields conserved every day.
The Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV)
The IWJV is a partnership of state and federal agencies, non-governmental conservation organizations and corporations delivering bird habitat conservation across parts of 11 states in the Intermountain West. The IWJV’s value-added approach to conservation is realized by linking continental bird population objectives to habitats at eco-regional and local scales and bringing partners together to invest strategically and financially in science-based conservation delivery.
About Pheasants Forever
Pheasants Forever, including its quail conservation division, Quail Forever, is the nation’s largest nonprofit organization dedicated to upland habitat conservation. Pheasants Forever and Quail Forever have more than 130,000 members and 700 local chapters across the United States and Canada. Chapters are empowered to determine how 100 percent of their locally raised conservation funds are spent – the only national conservation organization that operates through this truly grassroots structure.
