July 9, 2015
Conservation Reserve Program Yielding Results in Washington State (click here)
Editor’s note: The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife assisted with the development of this article.
Washington state’s sage-grouse population has been on the decline since 1985, but for the past five years Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and its State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program have helped to establish improved sage-grouse nesting habitats. As a result, the county has become one of only a handful across the nation with an increase in sage-grouse populations during the past 25 years.
The SAFE program has proven to be popular with local landowners. In fact, in May 2010, during the initial sign-up period, Douglas County reached the enrollment cap of 38,000 acres on the first day, with some landowners camping outside the FSA office to ensure they were able to participate....
Everyone loves history until it finally means something. The two populations are successful. That is why it isn't on the endangered species list. Below is a picture of it's habitat. Give me a break. The USA can't understand how important these lands are to remain open spaces.
...Sage-grouse historically (click here) occurred throughout the shrubsteppe and
meadow-steppe communities of eastern Washington. They were observed in
abundance in 1805 by members of the Lewis and Clark expedition near the
confluence of the Columbia and Snake Rivers. Currently, the state has
two relatively isolated breeding populations; one in Douglas-Grant
Counties, and one in Kittitas-Yakima Counties. Sporadic sightings
outside the primary distribution have been reported in Benton, Yakima,
Kittitas, Grant, Lincoln and Okanogan Counties. Greater sage-grouse have
also been translocated to Yakima and Lincoln counties, but it is too
early to document the success of those efforts....
Conservation Reserve Program Yielding Results in Washington State (click here)
Editor’s note: The Washington State Department of Fish and Wildlife assisted with the development of this article.
Washington state’s sage-grouse population has been on the decline since 1985, but for the past five years Farm Service Agency’s (FSA) Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) and its State Acres for Wildlife Enhancement (SAFE) program have helped to establish improved sage-grouse nesting habitats. As a result, the county has become one of only a handful across the nation with an increase in sage-grouse populations during the past 25 years.
The SAFE program has proven to be popular with local landowners. In fact, in May 2010, during the initial sign-up period, Douglas County reached the enrollment cap of 38,000 acres on the first day, with some landowners camping outside the FSA office to ensure they were able to participate....
Everyone loves history until it finally means something. The two populations are successful. That is why it isn't on the endangered species list. Below is a picture of it's habitat. Give me a break. The USA can't understand how important these lands are to remain open spaces.
