Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands is a joint effort of the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) in service of proactive, voluntary sagebrush habitat conservation.
We catalyze proactive, voluntary, and community-led sagebrush rangeland conservation, expanding success across both private and public lands. We accomplish this by promoting healthy working lands in the American West for people and wildlife. We use the latest science; bring a diversity of perspectives, values, and resources together for a common purpose; and implement on-the-ground conservation.
Our Goals:
➢ Promote conservation solutions for people and wildlife across sagebrush rangelands and across fence-lines
➢ Catalyze conversations to design on-the-ground projects that work for wildlife and communities
➢ Communicate about successful conservation efforts and learn from these achievements
➢ Bring people together to spark and accelerate effective and lasting conservation
➢ Bridge science and implementation through technical transfer: The process of transferring science, data, technology, best practices, and other technical information to end-users who influence land management.
Why conserve sagebrush rangelands?
Because it’s good for people and wildlife.
In September 2015, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that, based in part on unprecedented collaboration between state, private, and federal stakeholders, listing the Greater Sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act was not warranted. Continued success for sage grouse, other sagebrush dependent species, and the people that live in sagebrush communities is predicated on reducing threats by implementing and maintaining conservation actions.
The IWJV and BLM established Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands with a five-year Intra-Agency Agreement (IAA) in 2016, with a goal to catalyze proactive, voluntary, and community-led sagebrush rangeland conservation across public and private lands for future generations. Additional IAAs were signed in 2019 and 2023 to continue our shared work, with the two IAAs in 2023 focusing on work to manage wildfire, fuels, and the BLM’s Restoration Landscapes.
History:
Timeline of Intra-Agency Agreements between the IWJV and the BLM
As of 2022, the Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands effort has facilitated:
Removal of over 300,000 acres of encroaching conifers
Over 5,000 acres of wildfire fuels reduction, and over 2,500 acres of fuel breaks
Establishment of nearly 13,000 acres of conservation easements
Nearly 18,000 acres of invasive vegetation reduction
Over 100,000 acres of native vegetation enhancement
Improved grazing practices on over 80,000 acres
Over 1,700 acres of wet meadow habitat restoration, with installation of over 1,000 restoration structures
Support of 56 BLM field, district, and state offices
How we work:
Our conservation work focuses on combating five of the most critical threats to the sagebrush biome, using three main work strategies.
Five Conservation Focus Areas:
Remove Expanding Conifers
Reduce the Risk of Wildfire and Invasive Annual Grasses
Restore and Enhance Wet Meadows and Riparian Areas
Promote Outcome-based Grazing Efforts
Partner on Big Game Corridor Conservation
Three Work Strategies:
Science-to-Implementation: We strengthen understanding of and access to current science, research, data tools, and knowledge about conservation within the sagebrush biome
Community-Based Capacity: We place conservation professionals in communities that accelerate and coordinate conservation across land ownership boundaries, and collaborate with local partners to scale up management and restoration actions.
Communications: We tell the story of conservation successes, struggles, and current events throughout the sagebrush biome
Learn more about how we work here.
What is the sagebrush biome?
Sagebrush once covered roughly 247 million acres in western North America.
Today, this threatened landscape is half its original size and shrinking due to large-scale threats like catastrophic wildfire and invasive annual grasses.
Sagebrush rangelands provide important wildlife values, including habitat for 350 species of conservation concern, such as sage grouse, mule deer, and migratory birds.
Deep-rooted western livelihoods, from Native American cultural traditions to ranching to big game hunting, all rely on healthy sagebrush rangelands.
