Where Do We Go From Here With Sagebrush Conservation: A Long-Term Perspective?

Abstract

During our careers with State Wildlife Agencies and involvement with the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, we have watched and participated as state and federal agency perspectives about, and actions toward sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) have evolved. This change from sagebrush removal efforts to encourage forage production to conservation and restoration had several causes, but the largest factor was the long-term decline in greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) populations and potential for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Potential for listing accelerated planning and implementation activity by the Bureau of Land Management, US Forest Service, Fish and Wildlife Service, states, nongovernmental organizations, and private landowners that continues to this day. The tremendous investment we have all made in collaborative science has set us up for success in conserving sagebrush and sagebrush obligate species. We offer insights organized around five themes and specific recommendations for moving sagebrush conservation forward. Despite over three decades of unprecedented conservation efforts, we are still losing sagebrush at a rate of 0.53 million hectares (1.3 million acres) per year, which means we must both increase our capacity for sagebrush conservation and become more strategic in our investments. Shifting the emphasis of conservation from sage-grouse to sagebrush will reduce conflicts, increase participation, and broaden benefits. Increasing capacity, both fiscal and human from biome to local scales will require effectively communicating the value of, and threats to, the sagebrush biome. Recent science products, including this issue, offer a new ability and create a responsibility to strategically target sagebrush dollars where we can be successful. This strategic approach should be adaptive, with explicit conservation goals and monitoring to evaluate progress. This will require unprecedented collaboration to establish priority areas and goals, which will necessitate a collaborative governance structure to coordinate. Toward this end, we offer 9 specific implementation recommendations.