A Community-based Approach to Applying Innovative Technologies for Monitoring and Restoring Sagebrush Habitats in Wyoming

In the second half of the 20th Century, greater sage grouse populations declined throughout their range. Eleven western states are working to conserve sage grouse and their Habitat. Many conservation planning efforts have been initiated. Despite the availability of voluminous quantities of research papers, conservation plans, and other documents concerning sage grouse, however, there are few examples of land management strategies that result in population recovery. This project aims to test and evaluate on a broader scale a sage grouse management model devised and tested on the Deseret Ranch in northern Utah. The 1.4 million acre Lake DeSmet Conservation District contains over 200,000 acres of sage grouse Habitat according to a Habitat suitability model produced by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Forty-three percent of this land is privately owned. This program will target producers within these Habitats to develop innovative conservation technologies, practices, systems, procedures and approaches to conserve and restore sage grouse Habitat.