The sagebrush ecosystem covers more than 175 million acres of Western land that wildlife, tribes, and ranchers rely on.
But wildfires, drought, and invasive species chew up more than 1 million acres of sagebrush every year, according to a 2022 report by the U.S. Geological Survey. Oil and gas drilling and renewable energy development – primarily solar and wind farms – also cause sagebrush loss.
“We're continuing to lose sagebrush, and there is a strong need to work together to restore these landscapes through active restoration,” said Katie Andrle with the Nevada Department of Wildlife. “It is really critical that we work collaboratively with all of our partners, state, federal, local, private, to start tackling this issue, because we're right now falling behind.”
The wildlife agency received $308,500 in federal funds to slow the spread of invasive grasses through herbicide application and native seeding in northwestern Nevada. The group is partnering with the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe on the project.
Meanwhile, in Colorado, the Ute Mountain Ute Tribe is putting a $206,346 federal grant toward restoring sagebrush habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse and other wildlife. The project is expected to restore and improve sagebrush landscapes across nearly 7,000 acres.
In all, nearly $1 million of the funding is going to conservation work led by tribal communities, says Siva Sundaresan, deputy director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
“In many ways our tribal partners have been sort of the first stewards of these lands for millennia,” Sundaresan said. “Much of tribal land includes sagebrush in Nevada and other western states. Just as we're working with the states and other partners and private landowners, I think it's hugely important to make sure we're doing what we can for our tribal partners as well.”
Other projects in the Mountain West include an effort in Idaho to rehabilitate degraded stream habitats across sagebrush landscapes. That work, which is receiving $172,000 in federal funding, is being led by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Wyoming Public Media, Nevada Public Radio, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, KUNC in Colorado and KANW in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting.
