Utah Group Uses WHIP to Restore Sagebrush Rangelands

Posted: 17-Nov-2004; Updated: 05-Sep-2006

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NRCS biologist Jeremy Maestas (left) and NRCS district conservationist Tom Jarman look at the response of young sagebrush plants to mechanical treatment.
(Photo: Ron Francis/NRCS)

A few miles west of Utah’s Capital Reef National Park lies the vast Awapa Plateau, where a progressive group of ranchers, state and federal land managers, researchers and other conservationists has joined forces to improve rangelands that support local human and natural communities with the help of the USDA Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP).

The Awapa Plateau, known to locals as Parker Mountain, is rarely a tourist destination in an area rich in scenic beauty. At 7,000 feet above sea level, this high desert plateau is a stark, rolling landscape dominated vegetatively by the low-growing black sagebrush and the taller-growing big sagebrush. With over a quarter million acres of contiguous sagebrush, it is not surprising that Parker Mountain supports one of Utah’s largest populations of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), as well as remnant populations of the federally-threatened Utah prairie dog (Cynomys parvidens) and a burgeoning population of pronghorn (Antilocapra americana). The mountain is a mix of public lands managed by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service and Utah School and Institutional Trust Lands Administration, with ranchers leasing most of the land for seasonal sheep and cattle grazing. Since over 90% of the land in this area is owned by the state or federal government, rural communities depend heavily on public lands such as Parker Mountain to help support their economies.

At a 1998 gathering, concerned citizens and land managers acknowledged that rangeland health on Parker Mountain was declining. Recognizing that poor rangeland health, declining sage-grouse populations and future livestock production were inextricably linked, more than a dozen governmental and non-governmental organizations formed the Parker Mountain Adaptive Resource Management (PARM) Working Group to address these issues. The group outlined a strategy to improve Parker Mountain’s rangeland health and thus ensure the viability of both wildlife and livestock production. An important element agreed upon by the coalition was an adaptive management framework within which research and monitoring would guide the decision-making process.

Incentive programs and cooperative efforts are crucial for helping the declining greater sage-grouse. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is reviewing whether the bird should be listed under the Endangered Species Act, and its decision is due in December. (Photo: Gary Kramer/USFWS)

One factor leading to poor rangeland health on Parker Mountain was the high percentage of sagebrush with few understory grasses or forbs (wildflowers). This rangeland condition is not uncommon in the West and is thought to be caused by a combination of factors such as fire suppression and improper livestock grazing. The PARM Working Group believed the lack of diversity in plant composition and structure was detrimental to both the sage-grouse and livestock. In 1999, the Parker Mountain livestock permittees were awarded WHIP financial assistance to conduct rangeland restoration treatments on the state-owned lands. WHIP is an incentive program, funded through the 2002 Farm Bill and administered by the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), that helps fund landowners or livestock permittees who improve wildlife habitat on non-federal lands.

The Parker Mountain restoration project was conducted in cooperation with Utah State University researchers in an experimental fashion to learn from the manipulations. Chemical and mechanical brush treatments were applied on 100-acre blocks of land to reduce the amount of sagebrush and encourage growth of grasses and forbs. Treatments were replicated in four separate areas, and a control site with no brush treatment was also included. Vegetation and sage-grouse were then studied to determine the effectiveness of each treatment.

Thus far, study results are promising, with rangeland health improving for both wildlife and livestock. Forbs and grasses have responded well to the treatments, and sage-grouse appear to prefer the treated areas over the untreated control area. While researchers, conservationists and land managers are gaining insights on which treatment types yield the most benefit, they are also exploring ways to improve the timing and intensity of livestock grazing in order to maintain a healthy mix of grasses, forbs and shrubs. Monitoring of treatment sites will continue, providing critical information for decision-making on Parker Mountain for years to come.

The PARM Working Group got another boost this year when the livestock permittees on the mountain were awarded $350,000 additional WHIP cost-share assistance through NRCS. When the agency announced the funding in the small town of Loa near Parker Mountain in August, Senator Bob Bennett, R-Utah, chairman of the Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, and Deputy Secretary of Agriculture Jim Moseley were present to applaud and further encourage the PARM Working Group’s efforts. The ranchers hope to leverage their first restoration project’s success by investing in the same types of treatments where needed over their entire 104,000-acre state land allotment. The PARM group believes applying the treatments in small patches throughout the landscape will create a mosaic of vegetation that will help restore rangeland health and expand suitable habitat for all species that occupy the mountain, including the threatened Utah prairie dog. NRCS hopes the PARM effort will serve as an example that encourages other ranchers to use Farm Bill programs to help solve difficult resource problems on working rangelands.

Editor's note: Conservation Incentives thanks Jeremy Maestas, wildlife biologist, Natural Resources Conservation Service, Salt Lake City, Utah for this article.