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Sagebrush steppe ecosystems of the western United States are facing a multitude of challenges including spread of exotic annual grasses, increasing presence of wildfire, and expanding native conifer populations.� These issues are ecologically complex problems, the nature of which varies strongly in both space and time.� Such issues are set within an increasingly complex social context defined by competing values and variable land ownership patterns.� Nowhere is this complexity more evident than with efforts to manage and conserve habitat for the greater sage-grouse.� This species ranges across 11 western states and its status relative to the Endangered Species Act will be reviewed in 2020.� Several years ago we began working with a diverse mix of ranchers, Federal and State agencies, county government officials, NGOs, and scientists to assemble a Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances for greater sage-grouse habitat on private lands in Harney County, Oregon.� Initially, there were differing opinions on the nature of the problems that needed to be addressed in the CCAA.� To address these differing ideas, we guided the group through a process using best available science to construct simple state and transition models that detailed the ecological behind desired and undesired changes in plant communities, as well as ramifications of such changes to sage-grouse.� We found these models could be used to come to a common, science-based understanding of the problem set.� With a common understanding of the ecology underlying dominant threats, we were able to garner a sufficient capital of trust within the group to successfully navigate contentious issues such as grazing management.� This CCAA has expanded and now covers all sage-grouse counties in Oregon; the CCAA STM models are the basis of the State�s habitat mitigation program and federal agencies are using them to inform management on millions of rangeland acres in Oregon.