In 2015 the Idaho legislature first authorized annual appropriations for sage-grouse conservation efforts.� In the spirit of �All Hands, All Lands�, the State agencies responsible for implementing the Governor�s Sage-grouse Plan formed the Idaho Sage-grouse Actions Team, a group of partners dedicated to assuring that the State�s funds go to conservation projects that best benefit sage-grouse habitat, as well as working to leverage these funds with federal or other dollars.� The Actions Team includes representatives from Idaho Department of Fish and Game, Governor�s Office of Species Conservation, Idaho Department of Lands, Idaho Soil and Water Conservation Commission, Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, Natural Resources Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and The Nature Conservancy.� The team�s four priorities are to fund projects that support 1) Rangeland Fire Protection Associations; 2) strategic fuel breaks; 3) restoration and stewardship; and 4) research and innovation.� In 2016, the team helped facilitate planning/proposal writing and provided matching funds for a Conservation Innovation Grant to the Ada Soil and Water Conservation District, with U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) as a research partner. �The purpose of this initial project was to conduct experiments investigating emerging tools, including weed suppressive bacteria and herbicides, for controlling invasive annual grasses.� This project�s emphasis was later expanded to include wildfire restoration on two State Wildlife Management Areas that support critical mule deer and elk winter range.� The larger project, led by USGS, includes multiple partners and land ownerships, with the goal of providing land managers with realistic and effective options for restoring resistant shrub-steppe landscapes and minimizing the impact and spread of invasive annual grasses after wildfire.� This presentation will address Idaho�s cooperative process, along with details on the experimental work on herbicides and biocontrols.
Oral presentation and poster titles, abstracts, and authors from the Society for Range Management (SRM) Annual Meetings and Tradeshows, from 2013 forward.