Right on the heels of this month’s Fish and Wildlife Service announcement that the sage grouse would be denied protection under the Endangered Species Act, the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) has just announced a new $16 million initiative aimed at private landowners who wish to support sage grouse conservation.

The initiative will be implemented through two of the ongoing Farm Bill programs: $12.5 million will come from the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), which offers cost-share assistance for farmers wanting to make environmental improvements, and $3.5 million will come from the Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), which pays landowners to improve wildlife habitat.

Using a targeted approach, the USDA will identify landowners whose participation has the potential to have the greatest conservation impact; states like Montana, Wyoming, and Utah have already identified focus areas where sage grouse concentrations are high, and priority will also be given to landowners who were willing to dedicate larger rather than smaller portions of their land to the program.

The deadline to apply for the program is April 23; the conservation service will rank the highest-priority applications within each state with the intent of signing contracts by 1 August 2010.

jenna_jadin Policy, Wildlife management, endangered species, wildlife conservation