The latest research — published in this month’s special issue of SRM’s Rangeland Ecology & Management science journal — shows the benefits of removing conifers for grouse, wildlife, and people living in sagebrush and prairie ecosystems.

Rancher Mike Greeley uses conservation-minded management to sustain his working lands in eastern Oregon for wildlife and livestock. Check out this video of Mike on his ranch!

Scientists tracked sage grouse nest success in southern Oregon, and found that hens avoided sites where conifer cover exceeded 3% within 800m of their nests.

New songbird maps provide tools to help expand the benefits of sage grouse conservation to more wildlife species in the sagebrush community. Learn more from our latest Science to Solutions report on the wide-ranging impacts of improving sagebrush habitat.

by Rebecca Heisman,bioGraphic | When mature juniper cover reaches just 4 percent—picture taking a standard checkerboard and filling in just two and a half of the squares—sage-grouse abandon their leks. Read more about the conifers that are taking over sagebrush rangelands in the West.

by Justin Fritscher | Removing invading conifer trees improves the health of sagebrush ecosystems, providing better habitat for wildlife and better forage for livestock. And now, new science shows these efforts may also help improve late-season water availability, which is crucial for ecosystems in the arid West.

Tony and Diane Stobiecki partner with the Sage Grouse Initiative to improve habitat for wildlife and their ranch’s bottom line by putting in place projects that improve water delivery, riparian habitat, and rangeland forage.

Wildlife biologist Fozz Foster works on restoring and improving habitat in Oregon’s sagebrush sea. In this ‘Ask an Expert’ interview, he tells SGI about how he works collaboratively to address the problem of encroaching conifers — one of the main threats to sage grouse in the West.

Conifer encroachment spells bad news for birds that need intact, wide open spaces–sage grouse and lesser prairie-chickens included. This new report released by our partner, the Lesser Prairie Chicken Initiative, explains why.

Today, the Sage Grouse Initiative is unveiling a new tool to catalyze and improve habitat conservation efforts across the western United States. The free SGI Interactive Web Application presents cutting-edge geospatial data covering 100 million acres.