Increase Resources for Rangeland Fire and Invasives Management
Sagebrush rangelands once covered nearly 250 million acres in western North America. Today, this landscape has been reduced to half its original size and is rapidly shrinking. Fire is a primary culprit and many wildfires are fueled by annual invasive grasses. These rangelands help drive our nation’s economy through energy, recreation, and livestock production and are home to critical regional water resources. Equally important, these lands are wildlife meccas and provide habitat for some 350 species.
1) Increase technical and financial resources for wildlife and land management agencies to scale up proven practices.
● Support multi-year funding by Congress to the Department of Interior and U.S. Department of Agriculture for rangeland fire issues and support state legislatures’ efforts to address rangeland fire risks across jurisdictional boundaries. Highest priorities are the protection of communities, prioritizing response to multiple fire ignitions, pre-positioning fire suppression resources, and encouraging innovation in wildland fire and invasive species treatments.
● Hire the firefighters, specialists, and resource managers that are needed to address these issues, safeguard communities, and support the economy.
● Develop opportunities to create cooperative agreements and community-based efforts to address rangeland fire and invasive grasses holistically across landscapes.
● Help implement the Western Weed Action Plan, a strategic approach for addressing invasive plants in the sagebrush biome. Leadership is needed at all levels to raise the profile of invasive species management.
● Integrate state and federal invasives programs and wildfire management programs to increase coordination for targeted prevention, control, and eradication of invasives annual grasses; and to reduce human-caused fires.
2) Support land managers in the implementation of proactive conservation and restoration to ensure healthy, intact sagebrush habitat for future generations.
● Prioritize recruiting a talented workforce to work and live in local communities and build relationships.
● Support training and other efforts that build collaboration and bring diverse perspectives together with the best available methods for successful field-delivery projects.
● Encourage public awareness about the future of sagebrush conservation by helping to increase an understanding of wildfire and invasive species threats and encouraging action now.
Photo courtesy of Tina Dennison.
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