JACKSON, Wyo. — Ten million dollars in fiscal year 2023 funds from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law will support over 50 projects in western states to restore and conserve strategic areas within the sagebrush ecosystem, announced the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service this morning.
Between Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Montana, the largest sum of money will be allocated to sagebrush restoration right here in the Cowboy State.
Projects were based on the Sagebrush Conservation Design, which provides a roadmap for addressing threats to sagebrush by facilitating cooperative conversations that enable stakeholders to work together. The design calls for a “Defend and Grow the Core” approach, flipping the script by focusing first on intact core sagebrush habitats, and then growing the cores outward to restore more degraded areas. Selected projects will combat invasive grasses and associated wildfire threats, reduce encroaching conifers, safeguard precious water resources for neighboring communities and wildlife, and promote community and economic sustainability.
“Sagebrush country, which is a national treasure, supports American agriculture, outdoor recreation, and hundreds of species that live nowhere else in the world,” said Service Director Martha Williams. “This ecosystem serves as the lifeblood for many rural and Tribal communities in the West. We are proud of the work we were able to accomplish last year through the first round of Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding, and look forward to continuing collaborative efforts to conserve the sagebrush ecosystem and the significant biological, cultural and economic resources it supports.”
Spanning over 175 million acres, sagebrush country contains biological, cultural and economic resources of national significance. It is home to more than 350 species across the West, including pronghorn, elk, mule deer and greater sage grouse. America’s sagebrush ecosystem is the largest contiguous ecotype in the U. S., comprising one-third of the land mass of the lower 48 states.
Through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was appropriated $10 million per year for five years, to expand work with partners to conserve the sagebrush ecosystem. Projects are helping to create good-paying jobs that strengthen local economies, investing in disadvantaged communities consistent with the President’s Justice 40 initiative, and furthering the strong working relationships between the Department, states and Tribes in these landscapes.
Examples of fiscal year 2023 projects include:
Wyoming Invasive Annual Grass Management Collaborative (WY)
$750,000- A multi-year partnership between the Service, the State of Wyoming, Eastern Shoshone and Northern Arapaho Tribes, USDA, local governments and other entities to control invasive annual grasses and defend approximately 100,000 acres of high-quality sagebrush habitat on mixed ownership lands in Wyoming through on the ground treatments.
Pre- and Post-treatment Impacts of Japanese Brome Treatment on Pollinators in Sagebrush Rangeland (MT)
$70,000 – Japanese brome infestations are present within sagebrush core and growth areas of the Charles M. Russell National Wildlife Refuge. Herbicidal treatment sites will be paired with untreated Japanese brome invaded sagebrush areas and sagebrush areas with native dominated understory to determine effectiveness of restoration efforts and non-target impacts of the treatments. This work will complement ongoing work on the response of sagebrush obligate songbirds to invasive annual grass treatments.
Gunnison Basin Cheatgrass and Wet Meadow Implementation Project (CO)
$95,337 – Through this ongoing project, the Service is helping further long term sagebrush efforts with strategic collaborative conservation action. Funding will support delivery of tangible outcomes involving wet meadow restoration, prioritized cheatgrass treatments, and sagebrush restoration within the Gunnison Basin of Colorado.
Utah Field Team Conifer Treatment Projects for Upland Habitat Restoration and Enhancements (UT),
$250,000 – The Service is continuing funding to support upland habitat restoration in Utah. Removing conifers is an effective restoration tool in these systems and is necessary for defending and growing the core sagebrush habitats in this state.
See a full list of fiscal year 2023 projects on Fish and Wildlife’s Sagebrush Conservation website.
