Celebrating 2020 Accomplishments

For so many, 2020 was an extremely challenging year, both personally and professionally. Our team sends our extends our support and understanding to all those in the conservation community and beyond. This past year brought frustrations and heartbreak in many forms, yet strong partnerships can endure incredible tests. Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands would like to share our FY 2020 annual report and celebrate the accomplishments we have enacted with our comrades in conservation. Here is a quick list of highlights; please access the full report and a summarizing fact sheet at the bottom of this post.

Overview of FY 2018–2020 Accomplishments:

91,004 acres of conifer removal

4,587 acres of fuels treatment

14,415 acres of annual/noxious weeds treated

54,578 acres of vegetation treatment/enhancement

52,491 acres of improved grazing practices

1,242 acres of wet meadows restored

720 mesic structures installed

226,643 acres impacted

14 field delivery capacity positions created

New and Noteworthy Achievements:

  • Increased field delivery capacity positions from 12 to 14 positions to assist Bureau of Land Management (BLM) offices across eight states with implementing sagebrush habitat projects and treatments in collaboration with partners; also, recruited and hired an additional six positions, resulting in a fully staffed Sage Capacity Team.

  • Expanded efforts in the southern portion of the sagebrush biome, including establishing our first migration corridor position—the Arizona Strip Wildlife Biologist, who focused on the northern portion of the Kaibab Plateau mule deer herd—and scoped efforts for a brand-new position in Chama, New Mexico.

  • Released our second video, “Up in Smoke,” calling attention to the issue of rangeland fire and invasive annual grasses with key statistics about the scale and gravity of the fire-invasives cycle.

  • Launched an Outcome-based Grazing Authorization (OBGA) communications landing page on PartnersInTheSage.com with permittee profiles, a map of the ranches involved in the demonstration project, and associated social media.

  • Advanced decision support for rangeland productivity and carbon data on the Rangeland Analysis Platform, a science effort led by NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife and the University of Montana.

The IWJV is committed to supporting proactive, voluntary, incentive-based conservation that benefits wildlife habitat, natural resources, communities, and the public lands that the BLM manages in the West. We are pleased to share the following 2020 Annual Report with BLM leadership and agency staff, the IWJV Management Board, and the incredible array of partners who have played a crucial role in this effort.

Hannah Nikonow