February 1, 2013 Joyce Swartzendruber, State Conservationist Tim Griffiths, Sage-Grouse Initiative National Coordinator USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service 10 East BabcocK Street Federal Building, Room 443 Bozeman, MT 59715 Joyce & Tim: On behalf of the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV) Management Board and staff, I extend our sincere appreciation to the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) for partnering with the IWJV on the Sage-Grouse Initiative (SGI) Strategic Watershed Action Team (SWAT). Please find attached the SGI SWAT NRCS Quarterly Report for October – December 2012. The report also contains an appendix: Objectives and Evolution of the SGI SWAT. Please give me a call at (406) 329-3120 if you have any questions. We looK forward to reporting on future SGI SWAT successes! Sincerely, Dave Smith IWJV Coordinator Sage Grouse Initiative Strategic Watershed Action Team Quarterly Report: October 1 – December 31, 2012 Intermountain West Joint Venture February 1, 2013 The Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI) Strategic Watershed Action Team (SWAT) shows no sign of slowing down and, in fact, made significant gains this past quarter in each of its three focus areas: field delivery, science, and communications. The following reports on these accomplishments from October 1 – December 31, 2012. FIELD DELIVERY CAPACITY The SWAT field team continued to expand and accelerate SGI conservation delivery this quarter with support from local and state USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) staff, funding partners, and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IWJV). The team’s 24 dedicated and enthusiastic range conservationists, wildlife biologists, and natural resource specialists not only help get conservation on the ground but also spread the shared vision of achieving wildlife conservation through sustainable ranching throughout the West. Below are some of the incredible highlights from the SWAT field team and the IWJV’s efforts to support SGI delivery this reporting period. x Conservation Implementation: The IWJV maintains a detailed tracking system to document SWAT team progress on a quarterly basis. This tracking system captures the key conservation activities identified in the NRCS-U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Interagency Agreement for SGI-SWAT. These contributions are rolled-up with other NRCS actions and reported to the FWS, during the annual sage grouse status review process, to ensure landowner and partner efforts are considered in Endangered Species Act listing decision reviews. To date, the increased SWAT field capacity has yielded: ¾ 733,872 acres of rangeland improvement to increase sage grouse hiding cover during nesting season. Additional grass cover is expected to increase sage grouse populations by eight to ten percent. ¾ 116,954 acres of conifer removal in key nesting, brood-rearing, and wintering habitats. Removing encroaching conifers from sagebrush rangelands eliminates tall structures in otherwise suitable habitat. As birds re-colonize former habitats, increased bird abundance is Photo by Jeremy Roberts, Conservation Media anticipated. ¾ 73 miles of “high risk” fence near leks marked or moved. Marking fences is expected to reduce sage grouse fence collisions by 83%. x SWAT Field Team Spotlight: Passionate individuals with a propensity for action are key drivers of SGI success. Here are a few examples of how the SWAT field team is working every day to build broad support for sage grouse conservation and get more done on the ground. Page 1 of 11 o Taylor Payne (Randolph, Utah) – Utah Department of Agriculture and Food: Taylor helped organize a symposium at the Grazing Lands Conservation Initiative conference in Orlando, Florida. The session highlighted rancher and partners efforts to implement the Three Creeks Project that Taylor is working on – a ground-breaking grazing management plan across private and public lands to improve rangeland health and sage grouse habitat in Rich County, Utah. This SWAT position is made possible with the support of the Utah Department of Agriculture and Food, Bureau of Land Management, Intermountain West Joint Venture, NRCS, and the U.S. Forest Service. o Kelli Bartholomew (Ephrata, Washington) – Pheasants Forever: Sage grouse recovery in eastern Washington took a giant stride forward in 2012 with the help of Kelli and her NRCS colleagues, partners, and ranchers. Thanks to their efforts, over 14,400 acres of priority grouse habitat were enrolled in improved grazing management systems; conservation was also focused in one area within Douglas County, Washington, to achieve landscape-scale impacts required by sage grouse. “We’ve developed a program to work for producers and sage grouse,” says Bartholomew. “That’s the key. We listened to what they wanted first." This SWAT position is made possible with the support of Pheasants Forever, ConocoPhillips Company, Intermountain West Joint Venture, NRCS, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. o Natasha Gruber (Roosevelt, Utah) – Mule Deer Foundation: Natasha gave a presentation to over three dozen ranchers, conservationists and agency personnel, regarding opportunities for assistance with sage grouse conservation, at a Utah State University ranching forum in the Uintah Basin. Natasha conveyed the shared vision of SGI with participants saying, “What we want to do with SGI is to help landowners improve habitat for sage grouse and wildlife and also help keep the rangeland healthy for their ranching.” This SWAT position is made possible with the support of the Mule Deer Foundation, ConocoPhillips Company, Intermountain West Joint Venture, National Wild Turkey Federation, NRCS, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Utah Chukar & Wildlife Foundation, and Utah Division of Wildlife Resources. x SWAT Position Updates: SWAT field team talent does not go unrecognized by other employers. As position vacancies arise, the IWJV collaborates with hiring entities and funding partners to re-assess position locations, in order to ensure technical assistance is focused where it’s needed most. They then work to quickly refill positions and minimize disruption to conservation delivery. Here are changes that occurred this quarter: o Joe Parsons (Rocky Mountain Bird Observatory – Saratoga Springs, Wyoming) accepted a position as the District Manager for the Saratoga-Encampment-Rawlins Conservation District in Saratoga Springs, Wyoming; this vacancy has been advertised and will be filled shortly. o Jeff Reese (Pheasants Forever (PF) – Burley, Idaho) accepted a position as a Rangeland Management Specialist with the Bureau of Land Management in Cedar City, Utah; Scott Scroggie (PF – Ely, Nevada) moved from Ely to Burley; Tyrel Brown has been selected for the Ely, Nevada, position and will begin on February 4, 2013. Page 2 of 11 o Laura Schnapp (Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife – Ontario, Oregon) was hired for the Ontario position; this position was relocated from Baker City, Oregon, to take advantage of growing SGI opportunities in Malheur County. x Monthly Coordination Conference Calls: The IWJV continues to host monthly conference calls in which SWAT team members receive SGI updates, share accomplishments and experiences, ask questions, and receive continuous technology transfer and training. x SWAT Field Team Support: To help ensure SWAT team success, IWJV provides two support staff that work one-on-one with team members. Jeremy Maestas, NRCS-IWJV SGI Technical Lead, specializes in conservation delivery assistance by providing direct technical support to team members and NRCS staff. He also fosters regular team coordination and helps maintain funding partner relations. Tina Dennison, IWJV Project Coordinator, provides assistance to the team with accomplishment tracking and reporting, as well as administrative support for team meetings. SCIENCE CAPACITY The SGI Science Capacity effort continues to run smoothly, track progress, and yield important scientific results. What’s more, it is growing – adding significantly to current achievements and progress. SGI also initiated two interagency agreements – one with the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) Rocky Mountain Research Station (RMRS) and the other with the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Fort Collins Science Center – which cumulatively will invest nearly $800,000 toward expanding on our knowledge and understanding of sage grouse genetic connectivity. Targeting our conservation to core areas to maximize benefits to birds is a solid approach, but understanding how core areas are linked to one another is also critical to SGI success. Implementation of these landscape connectivity projects will inventory the current state of sage grouse genetic connectivity; provide data that will assist in decision support for sage grouse conservation; and, generate new and integrated maps showing connectivity among core areas for sage grouse for use by states, federal management agencies, and other partners. Collectively, the IWJV science agreements are moving us closer to reaching SGI’s goals of building potent, science-based targeting tools and thoroughly evaluating the biological outcomes of SGI implementation. Including agreements under development, IWJV science efforts extend across the 11-state sage grouse range and cover millions of acres of private sagebrush grasslands and wetlands. Results play a pivotal role in effectively targeting SGI as needed to realize sage grouse conservation objectives and help ranchers conserve sustainable rangelands. Assessment partners in this