Some great news for the Greater Sage-Grouse: The Natural Resources Conservation Service announced today that it will commit another $200 million over the next four years to the Sage-Grouse Initiative, a partnership between NRCS and landowners across the American West to save sage-grouse habitat on private land, which accounts for 40 percent of the bird鈥檚 total habitat. The latest cash infusion brings the program鈥檚 budget .
SGI has offered grants to qualifying ranchers and farmers to make their plots more sage-grouse-friendly. Recommended actions range from removing conifer trees that have encroached on the bird鈥檚 beloved sagebrush, to putting up fencing that doesn鈥檛 heavily interrupt sage-grouse鈥檚 breeding and nesting ranges. Since the program鈥檚 founding in 2010, more than 1,100 ranches in 11 states鈥攊ncluding Colorado, Wyoming, and Montana鈥攈ave participated, totaling more than 4 million acres. The goal is to hit 8 million acres by 2018.
The new funding is a multimillion-dollar attaboy, says Brian Rutledge, vice president of 探花精选 Rockies. Its success, he says, comes from its collaborative spirit. SGI is voluntary; the program lets landowners and conservationists work together on solutions, unlike the one-size-fits-all approach that accompanies an endangered species listing. 鈥淭he program is fully adaptable to suit the land,鈥 says Rutledge. 鈥淚t asks: What does the bird need in a [specific] part of sage-grouse country?鈥
But the Greater Sage-Grouse isn鈥檛 out of the woods. Despite SGI鈥檚 winning streak, the sage-grouse conservationists efforts are fighting an uphill battle on the regulatory front: In late 2014, the Obama administration to get the most recent spending bill passed.
Still, as long as SGI keeps running, there may be no need for heavier regulation. Especially with an extra $200 million in its pockets.