Sagebrush Partners
Working Together to Close the Conservation Gap
Sagebrush country is huge. Spanning 13 states and encompassing everything from private working rangelands to iconic National Parks, the sagebrush biome is the largest single habitat type in North America. To conserve this vast landscape, partnerships are critical.
Both the Sagebrush Conservation Design and the Special Issue of Rangeland Ecology & Management were created by a diverse collection of partners, highlighting and reinforcing this key component of successful conservation.
Photo: Jeremy Roberts
Who is currently using this science and the SCD to defend the sagebrush biome?
USDA-NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife
is supporting private landowners who voluntarily address the main threats, like encroaching conifers and invasive grasses, through its Framework for Conservation Action in the Sagebrush Biome.
Nonprofit organizations
like The Nature Conservancy have targeted easement programs to compensate private landowners for protecting core sagebrush areas.
Department of Interior
used the SCD in its Sagebrush Keystone Initiative to help focus public land conservation and restoration actions to some of the most intact landscapes in the biome.
Bureau of Land Management
is using the SCD (along with input from field biologists and ecologists) to inform and prioritize restoration efforts within the wildlife, fuels, and range programs where project selection is based on likelihood of success, partnership opportunities, priority species habitats, and local management objectives.
Institute for Managing Annual Grasses Invading Natural Ecosystems (IMAGINE)
is using the SCD alongside the latest technology and science on invasive grasses in the Invasive Annual Grass Technical Transfer Partnership, a multi-agency campaign to equip land managers with the knowledge, skills, and tools needed to implement a "Defend and Grow the Core" approach for managing invasive annual grasses.
Conservation Practitioners
are using the SCD to rally collective funding and capacity toward conserving high-quality landscapes in the biome through collaborative efforts like: Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands and the SageCon Partnership.
