A program for conserving sage grouse habitat initiated in 2010 by the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS) was presented to local landowners at a multifaceted meeting on Sept. 10 at the Platte Valley Community Center.
The program widely known as the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) is now called Working Land For Wildlife - Sage Grouse (WLFW). Garrett Pantle, a wildlife biologist who works on the sage grouse initiative for the NRCS, Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory (RMBO) and the Saratoga Encampment Rawlins Conservation District (SERCD) and Mark Shirley, District Conservationist for the NRCS in Saratoga presented the details of the program.
The stated goal of the WLFW is to sustain working ranches while conserving sage grouse populations in order to keep the grouse from being listed as an endangered species under the Endangered Species (ESA). The method for this is by demonstrating a cooperative effort to reduce threats to the animal by improving habitat.
Through the WLFW the NRCS hopes to develop more conservation easements on ranch land throughout 11 western states. Currently, the NRCS has signed more than 100 contracts for conservation easements covering more than one million acres.
Pantle noted 40 percent of sage grouse habitat is located on private lands in the western United States.
The NRCS offers two grazing systems options within the WLFW. Option 1 provides for sustained range heath. Option 2 looks to maintain nesting and early brood-rearing habitat and includes resting 20 percent of suitable habitat year-round. There are also stubble height requirements as part of Option 2. In either option the landowner is required to equip stock tanks near broods with escape ramps, mark fences near those broods and implement a range monitoring program.
A three-fifths-mile buffer around leks is used as a guideline for the area of critical importance around a lek.
One of the first steps the NRCS takes is to make sure the land is actually sage grouse habitat. This is determined by measuring the height of a variety of vegetation, identifying suitable water sources and analyzing the amount of habitat fragmentation.
If a landowner signs a contract with the WLFW, NRCS will develop a conservation plan map of the property, collect data on soils, map ecologically sensitive sites, develop range trend estimates, conduct a forage inventory and develop a feed and forage balance sheet, help with the the development of a range monitoring plan and also develop drought contingency and grazing management plans.
Shirely explained participation in the WLFW is completely voluntary but does have some requirements. The is an annual self-reporting requirement as part of the monitoring plan and an on-site visit by the NRCS is required at least every five years.
The WLFW program cannot provide incidental take permits such as those provided as part of a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances through the US Fish and Wildlife Service, but it can help landowners make sure suitable conservation practices are in place if the sage grouse were to be listed under the ESA.
As with any contractual agreement a landowner should assess the advantages and disadvantages on a case by case basis before signing an agreement.
Landowners interested in the program should contact the local NRCS office, Shirley said.
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