Sage-Grouse Restoration Project: Evaluating the Effects of the Farm Bill Conservation Practices on Sage-Grouse

The Office of Management and Budget is demanding increased accountability of funds used to implement conservation practices and strategies. Although current Farm Bill policy provides priority funding for projects that are designed to enhance species conservation, it does not allocate funds to conduct the evaluations needed to document the effect of conservation practices on wildlife. The Sage-Grouse Restoration Project (SGRP) is a cooperative agreement with the Natural Resource Conservation Service (NRCS), designed specifically to facilitate evaluations to determine the effect of conservation practices and technologies implemented under the 2002 Farm Bill on restoring or enhancing sage-grouse habitat on private lands. Information gained through SGRP projects will be used to assist private landowners, NRCS, Soil Conservation Districts, and state wildlife agency field staff in planning and implementing habitat projects and practices on private lands to benefit wildlife species dependent upon sagebrush-steppe. Completion of the projects will result in the development of the SGRP Library, which will provide conservation planners with information regarding the effects of integrating 2002 Farm Bill conservation practices on wildlife, agricultural productivity, and natural resource conservation