Digital Storefront Tells Stories of Public Land Sagebrush Partnerships

"In the West, our present conservation challenges require new thinking and innovative ways to work together and develop solutions,” said Virgil Moore, Director of Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and Intermountain West Joint Venture Management Board Member. “We are working hard to adapt and develop communications that meet people where they are. A shining example of this effort is a new online sagebrush conservation web portal devoted to simply and creatively communicate the groundbreaking public-private partnerships working in sagebrush country.” 

Featuring local and state-driven partnerships, the brand new Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands web portal shows in stunning visuals and compelling stories how collaborative sagebrush conservation benefits people, wildlife, communities, and economies in the West.

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The portal launched today at the Sagebrush Executive Oversight Committee Meeting in conjunction with the Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies Annual 2017 Meeting, and was viewed by national, state, and local leaders working to conserve the West’s most iconic bird, the Greater Sage-grouse, and its habitat. Now live at www.PartnersInTheSage.com, this site is actively sharing the innovative stories of win-win solutions for wildlife and communities. State and federal agencies and non-governmental organizations jointly reviewed and helped create a shared vision for the portal.

The portal was born out of a new effort initiated between the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) to support the BLM and its partners in implementing strategic conservation practices across public and neighboring private lands. The partnership is modeled after the nationally renowned USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service-led Sage Grouse Initiative.

“As part of this partnership, we needed a digital storefront to share and celebrate the stories about the places and the people that are enacting community-based and landscape-scale sagebrush habitat conservation on public lands,” said Kim Dow, BLM Acting Division Chief of Fish and Wildlife Conservation. “Think of PartnersInTheSage.com as a one-stop shop for partners interested in sagebrush habitat conservation with a treasure trove of stories and resources.”

The primary purpose of the portal is to provide a simple space that reflects the cross-boundary efforts underway through this partnership between the BLM and IWJV. This site is intended to enhance awareness and create a heightened enthusiasm among current and new partners working in sagebrush country.

“Lasting conservation of sagebrush landscapes requires that we step into the shoes of those who live in and depend on these systems,” said Tony Wasley, Director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife and Chairman of the IWJV Management Board. “Understanding their perspectives is essential to successful long-term conservation. This new web portal is an effort to catalog and showcase personal experiences that highlight the value of important sagebrush landscapes.”

People in the sage have joined forces to work across fencelines to address continued threats in the sagebrush ecosystem, including catastrophic fire, challenges with water quality and quantity, invasives, and degraded wet meadows and riparian areas. The spirit of this work is truly about neighbors working with neighbors. More than ever, it’s time to share their stories of success.

Want to learn more? Here’s how: 

Contacts:

Ali Duvall - Project Oversight - ali.duvall@iwjv.org, (406) 549-0346

Duane Coombs - Field Capacity Opportunities - duane.coombs@iwjv.org, (385) 251-5535

Hannah Ryan - Communications Opportunities - hannah.ryan@iwjv.org, (307) 431-9876

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Hannah Nikonow