Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar yesterday announced a far-reaching agreement to support the conservation of greater sage-grouse and sagebrush ecosystems in parts of 11 Western states.

“Today’s agreement enables us to help this rare species in a comprehensive, integrated way,” said Vilsack. “By working cooperatively toward the same goal, we can build on the progress states have made protecting the sage-grouse and the sagebrush ecosystem it depends on.”

“The greater sage-grouse has historically inhabited millions of acres in the West, and if we are going to conserve the species we must work across political and administrative boundaries at a landscape scale to protect and restore its sagebrush habitat,” Salazar said. “This agreement gives us a framework to prevent further habitat fragmentation and undertake other conservation efforts in partnership with states, tribes, private landowners and other stakeholders.”

USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief Dave White and Rowan Gould, acting director of Interior’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, signed the partnership agreement to promote and preserve greater sage-grouse habitat and sagebrush ecosystems.

The agreement ensures beneficial and consistent actions for conservation of greater sage-grouse habitat and provides a collaborative framework for states and private landowners. For its part, the Fish and Wildlife Service is committing to work with NRCS to use the authorities of the Endangered Species Act to provide participating landowners with reasonable assurances that their activities will be consistent with the act should the sage-grouse later be listed as a threatened or endangered species.

For the complete story, please go to fws.org -- Jay Cassell