Ranchers Scott and Alan Chew know what it’s like to work across borders. The Utah and Colorado boundary literally crosses through their property that’s part of vast sagebrush steppe known as Blue Mountain, found east of Vernal, Utah, and including part of Dinosaur National Monument.

Joe Painter credits his grandfather for his appreciation of the sage grouse, sharptails, pheasants, ducks, wild turkeys and Hungarian partridge that share his windswept cattle ranch outside of the tiny town of Buffalo, in the far northwest corner of South Dakota.

“Establishing these pastures and rotational grazing has improved our bottom line. We’ve had more grass, so our livestock does better. We’re selling a higher weight product. We’re also leaving some grass, so we’ve improved the range condition. It’s a plus for both the livestock and the sage grouse.” – Bob Lehfeldt, Montana rancher

Matt Light, a Boy Scout from Billings, Montana, completed an ambitious project last spring for his Eagle Scout Service Project, one that he hopes will make a difference for sage grouse that are facing major declines across their range.

Sage Grouse Initiative field staff Gillian Brooks and Scott Scroggie earned prestigious awards from Pheasants Forever at a recent national staff meeting in Estes Park, Colorado. Howard Vincent, CEO of Pheasants Forever, presented Brooks with the Landowner Service award and Scroggie, the “Acre Maker” award.

Proactive conservation that removes encroaching trees helps maintain sage grouse populations within their remaining strongholds, according to a study published today in the scientific journal, Biological Conservation.

When Owyhee County rancher Chris Black walked into the Mountain Home Service Center last November, he seemed to have read my mind. He’d been high on my list to contact about planning a habitat project with the Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI), a highly targeted and science-based landscape approach to enhance and conserve rangelands for sage grouse.

In the far northeast corner of Utah dwell more sage grouse than in any other part of the state. Here, a ground-breaking grazing management plan is underway.

Dennis Sun, owner of the Sun Ranch west of Casper, Wyo., and publisher/owner of the Wyoming Livestock Roundup, knows sage grouse better than most people. After all, he has more than 600 wintering grouse on the ranch, and one breeding lek where more than 300 birds have been counted.

Twenty-one California ranchers in Lassen and Modoc Counties have signed up for SGI programs to remove juniper that has encroached on sage grouse habitat and reduced forage for livestock as well. “We’ve participated in NRCS programs for over 20 years,” says Darrell Wood of Wood Ranches.