10 Years of Work in Western Rangelands Detailed in New Report

Scientific findings from conservation work on rangelands across the west have been detailed in a new report from the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) titled “A Decade of Science Support in the Sagebrush Biome”.

Since 2010, scientists and stakeholders have been working together to reduce threats to working rangelands and sagebrush-dependent species like sage-grouse. These threats include exotic annual grasses, conifer encroachment, degradation of wet meadows and riparian areas, and land-use conversion. Outcomes from this voluntary conservation work can be adapted and applied to future projects to benefit rangeland health for stakeholders west-wide.

“These scientific studies were coproduced with scientists and stakeholders from working lands across the West, making this science immediately actionable,” said Dr. David Naugle, WLFW science advisor. “This report also details WLFW’s advanced spatial technologies that help practitioners best identify where conservation work will yield the greatest outcomes.”

At the time of this report, WLFW scientists have authored 61 peer-reviewed publications that help inform the conservation of this landscape. The papers have been cited more than 1,200 times by other researchers and another 43 times in the Federal Register to articulate the outcomes of voluntary conservation.

Findings from this WLFW science provide the foundation for the Agency’s new five-year WLFW Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush Biome. This framework represents NRCS’s continued contribution to voluntary conservation in sagebrush country. This landscape is home to more than 350 plant and animal species, notably sage grouse and migratory big game populations. Learn more about this Framework at https://wlfw.rangelands.app.