Success by the Numbers
In just two years, SGI has enrolled more than 450 ranchers, invested in excess of $100 million and generated nearly $60 million in partner matches. The results are rolling in: protecting land, reducing sage grouse mortality, and boosting both livestock and grouse productivity.
Keeping Working Ranches Intact and Viable
Conservation easements were secured on 208,000 acres to maintain large and intact working ranches in some of the highest sage grouse abundance areas of the West. Easements reduce fragmentation, the overarching reason cited by FWS for potential listing under ESA.
Grazing Systems that Boost Sage Grouse Numbers
Ranchers put new grazing systems into practice on 1.3 million acres of large and intact sagebrush to increase hiding cover for nesting birds. Additional grass cover is expected to increase sage-grouse populations by 8 to 10 percent.
Removing Encroaching Conifers
Cutting 105,000 acres of encroaching conifer from otherwise suitable sage grouse habitat will expand key nesting, brood-rearing and wintering sites.
Preventing Fence Collisions
Marking or moving 350 miles of ‘high-risk’ fence near sage-grouse breeding sites is estimated to prevent 1,550-1,900 fence collisions annually, equaling twice the number of all male sage grouse counted in the Dakota, Washington and Canada combined.
