Focus Area: Invasive Annual Grasses

  • From the Inside Out: Local Cheatgrass Treatment Aids in Landscape-Scale Habitat Resiliency

    From the Inside Out: Local Cheatgrass Treatment Aids in Landscape-Scale Habitat Resiliency

    “Proactive, not Reactive.” This is the mantra of partners in Lemhi and Custer County, Idaho who are working to address cheatgrass and other non-native plants in sagebrush rangelands. These remote central Idaho counties contain some of the most intact, high-quality sagebrush habitat remaining in the state, often referred to as “core” habitat. Central Idaho’s core…

  • Protecting Carbon Stored in Western Rangelands

    Protecting Carbon Stored in Western Rangelands

    Western rangelands and grasslands are being recognized for their ability to protect stored carbon long into the future. Rangelands are vast and store over 25% of carbon found in western ecosystems. As the climate warms and the west experiences more extreme weather events like drought and fire, as well as landscape-scale changes like conifer expansion…

  • Resilient Landscapes Resource List

    Resilient Landscapes Resource List

    Find More Sagebrush Conservation Resources Below Guiding Strategies and Frameworks The resources below are valuable assets for the Intermountain West Joint Venture, used to advance sagebrush conservation goals and guide our work with stakeholders throughout the Intermountain West. These resources will be updated to reflect the latest version of each strategy or framework. Fact Sheets…

  • The Dodo of the Desert

    The Dodo of the Desert

    The following story is by Julia Babcock with the Oregon Sage-grouse Conservation Partnership. My father worked in the genetics lab in the 1970’s. It gave him the sense that anything was possible; that humans and nature could collaborate to shape both DNA and destiny. Growing up, my father told me that my life’s work was…

  • Strengthening Collaboration Through a Changing Environment

    Strengthening Collaboration Through a Changing Environment

    Last month, Partnering to Conserve Sagebrush Rangelands convened virtually for the 2nd Annual Collaborative Forum to empower cross-boundary sagebrush collaboration. This year’s theme was strengthening collaboration through a changing environment. The event aimed to strengthen the toolkit for the Sage Capacity Team (SCT), the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), and the community of partners they…

  • SageWest 2020 Summer Series: Fire & Invasives

    SageWest 2020 Summer Series: Fire & Invasives

    Invasive annual grasses are dramatically compromising sagebrush country by reducing forage quality and quantity, altering wildfire regimes, impacting species diversity, reducing wildlife habitat, and straining already challenged local economies. Amongst SageWest’s 150+ entities (state and federal agencies, universities, collaboratives, non-governmental organizations, etc.) are many that are tackling this challenging issue. Thus, this platform is uniquely…

  • SageCon Invasives Initiative:  Hot on the Horizon in Oregon’s Rangelands

    SageCon Invasives Initiative: Hot on the Horizon in Oregon’s Rangelands

    The wildfire and invasive fuels problem will not be solved in silos around the West. The Oregon-based Sage-Grouse Conservation Partnership (known as SageCon) launched its Invasives Initiative to strategically link local and regional invasive grass efforts. “Working with noxious weeds is like a bare-knuckled bar brawl. Some years you gain ground, others you get beat,…

  • Why is Sagebrush Country on Fire?

    Why is Sagebrush Country on Fire?

    Through SageWest, a sagebrush communications network, Audubon and Intermountain West Joint Venture partnered with the Bureau of Land Management in offering a 1-hour webinar presentation on June 3rd, 2020, titled “Why is Sagebrush Country on Fire?” Thank you to everyone who participated, we had a great turnout with folks ranging from policy-makers to practitioners in this field to those…

  • More Menace Than Cheatgrass?!

    More Menace Than Cheatgrass?!

    The following article is by Bebe Crouse, Communications Director for The Nature Conservancy in Montana and Wyoming, with contributions from the Intermountain West Joint Venture. “It’s like a horror film!”  That’s the way The Nature Conservancy’s northeast Wyoming program director Carli Kierstead describes the rapid spread of two invasive annual grasses. What started as a…

  • Nevada Seed Strategy

    Vision: Keep Nevada lands diverse and functioning by using the right seed in the right place at the right time. Mission: We are a partnership helping Nevada increase the availability of locally adapted seed to restore diverse plant communities and sustainable landscapes. The Nevada Seed Strategy (Strategy), prepared by the Nevada Native Seed Partnership, aims…