USDA’s Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) uses a win-win approach to systematically target conservation efforts to improve agricultural and forest productivity and enhance wildlife habitat on working landscapes.

Currently in Nevada there is $165,000 available for projects under WLFW to help voluntarily conserve sage grouse habitat on private lands. This assistance helps producers plan and implement a variety of conservation activities, or practices, that benefit the bird and agricultural operations.

The agency’s staff of experts work side-by-side with agricultural producers and ranchers to develop a conservation plan customized for their land and provides a roadmap for how to use a system of conservation practices to meet natural resource and production goals.

The financial assistance paid by NRCS helps producers pay for the adoption of conservation practices that improve the health of the sagebrush ecosystem. Common conservation practices for the greater sage-grouse include prescribed grazing, removal of invasive conifers, and restoration of wet meadows. Technical assistance is free.

To date areas serviced by Nevada NRCS have protected or improved over 1.7 million acres through nearly 300 separate contracts accounting for more than $92 million in funding under the Sage Grouse Initiative which is part of WLFW.

People or groups interested in applying for the program should contact their local NRCS office to get more information and sign up. Office locations can be found here https://offices.sc.egov.usda.gov/locator/app.  Applications are due May 12, 2023.

For more information on Working Lands for Wildlife go to https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/working-lands-for-wildlife. For more information on the Sage Grouse Initiative go to https://www.nrcs.usda.gov/programs-initiatives/sage-grouse-initiative.

Original source can be found here.