WYOMING — The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) announced that it will be allocating $295,000 to local sage-grouse working groups to benefit sage-grouse and their habitats.
The Wyoming Game and Fish Commission said in a statement that the funding will help support local efforts to address the primary threats to sage-grouse. According to the WGFD, this year’s funding has been reduced from $548,000 in 2024, due WGFD budget cuts.
“Game and Fish is implementing some budget adjustments in response to inflationary pressures,” WGFD Public Information Officer Amanda Fry told Buckrail. “These adjustments address the rising cost of basic resources, as well as management programs, and are unrelated to any federal actions. We remain committed to balancing fiscal responsibility with meeting our agency mission.”
The eight sage-grouse working groups across the state, which the WGFD expects to support, are comprised of state and federal agency representatives and other stakeholders with local interests.
The WGFD wrote on its website that the Upper Snake River Basin Sage-grouse Local Working Group (USRBWG) was established in September 2004 to develop a local conservation plan to support sage-grouse populations in Jackson Hole, the Gros Ventre Valley, Hoback Basin and an interstate population shared by Wyoming and Idaho in the Salt River drainage. The USRBWG meets at the WGFD Jackson Regional Office.
USRBWG’s Conservation Plan states that its local conservation effort is part of a larger
effort in Wyoming to help prevent the need for listing the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
While the WGFD reported that 2024 sage-grouse numbers throughout Wyoming have increased by 33% compared to 2023, according to spring lek counts, the Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-Grouse and Sagebrush Habitats confirm sage-grouse have been declining across their range during the past 50 years due to the loss of quality and distribution of the bird’s sagebrush-steppe habitat.
The application period for proposals is open now until Jan. 31, 2026, and funding will be awarded on a rolling basis. Proposed projects will be evaluated on the likelihood of success, project readiness, matching funds, multiple species benefits, duration of benefits and adequacy of monitoring, according to the WGFD.
Examples of past projects include:
- Sagebrush stand restoration and improvements
- Riparian habitat restoration
- Research to enhance management and understanding of sage-grouse
- Fence marking
- Invasive annual grass treatments
- Escape ramps on stock tanks
- Conifer removal
- Lek searches using infrared flights
For full application details, download the Project Proposal Form. Proposals must be completed using the Jan. 15, 2025, version of the application and submitted via email to Nyssa Whitford, Game and Fish sage-grouse/sagebrush biologist, at nyssa.whitford@wyo.gov. Questions are welcome, and submitting applications early is preferred.
