Cooperating Across Boundaries
The sagebrush country is a patchwork of private and public lands as diverse as the people that work, live, and recreate here. This ecosystem has been reduced to half of its original size, requiring an all-hands approach to its conservation and restoration. Thankfully, it is still functioning as intact working landscapes, one of the few remaining in the world. It covers 14 states, stretching between the Great Plains and the Pacific Crest, and provides home and habitat to people and wildlife.
Small, rural communities are the heart of this incredible ecosystem in addition to growing urban centers, many of which depend on the sage and its resources for food, water, energy, and livelihoods. The region is often portrayed as arid and barren, and yet sagebrush communities are teeming with life and diversity. This ecosystem is crucial to more than 350 threatened species.
We take great pride in western public lands that are our American heritage. To keep these lands productive for all users, we focus our work on these key areas to address major threats to sagebrush habitat:
Remove Expanding Conifers
Reduce the Risk of Wildfire and Invasive Weeds
Restore and Enhance Wet Meadows and Riparian Areas
Promote Outcome-based Grazing Efforts
Partner on Big Game Corridor Conservation
Here’s how we are working together and three key ingredients for success:
1. Putting Science into Practice
Support our partners in accessing, interpreting, and applying science, local and Traditional knowledge, and practices in order to strengthen on-the-ground outcomes.
Track progress jointly on public and private lands.
Quantify the ecological benefits of conservation practices.
2. Restoring & Conserving Sagebrush Habitat
Leverage shared resources to help put projects on the ground.
Support efforts to maximize the results of agencies, organizations and individuals in accomplishing local conservation priorities.
3. Telling the Story
Share stories of successful, innovative conservation far and wide.
Hold up local examples to highlight the “places and faces” working on sagebrush rangeland restoration.
Garner broad-based support to further cross-boundary sagebrush conservation.
Our partnership is seeking opportunities to work together with public land managers and recreators, private landowners, researchers, and local communities on projects that meet these criteria. Please contact us if you see an opportunity to engage in this work or share your success story.
