Fish and Wildlife

Wildfires are increasingly destroying wildlife habitat in sagebrush ( Artemisia species) ecosystems, and managers need approaches to scope the pace and degree to which post-fire restoration actions can re-create habitat in dynamic landscapes. Sagebrush recovery takes a long time, and it can be difficult to anticipate restoration outcomes over large, diverse landscapes that have experienced decades...

Increased wildfire-induced loss of sagebrush in North American shrublands are outpacing natural recovery and leading to substantial habitat loss for sagebrush-obligate species like sage-grouse. Transplanting sagebrush ( Artemisia species) is a possible strategy for revegetating burned areas, but little is known about sage-grouse or other wildlife responses to restoration strategies.

Many revegetation projects are intended to benefit focal wildlife species. Yet, few scope the ability of revegetation efforts to yield habitat. To investigate the ability of alternative sagebrush ( Artemisia species) planting strategies to recover habitat conditions for the greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ), USGS and Colorado State University scientists developed a spatial...

Disturbances, management, and changing environmental conditions have reshaped the sagebrush biome within the western United States. As a result, sagebrush cover and configuration have varied over space and time, influencing ecological processes and species' use of the landscape. Characterizing changes in sagebrush ecosystem connectivity over time will help us understand the effects of those...

Long-term wildlife monitoring is imperative for understanding population changes that can inform managers. However, working with population data collected by different organizations, across multiple jurisdictions, and over long time periods can be challenging due to different data management approaches and organizational priorities. Through this project, we aimed to collaborate with eleven state...

Wildlife management boundaries frequently lack biological context, such as information on habitat resource availability and wildlife movements. To address this, we developed multiple levels of biologically relevant and hierarchically nested greater sage-grouse ( Centrocercus urophasianus ) population units that could facilitate management and conservation of populations and habitats.

Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey, the U.S. Department of Agriculture-Agricultural Research Service, and Oklahoma State University are studying the distribution of grassland bird communities across the western Great Plains to anticipate how species distributions may respond to a changing climate.

Sagebrush ecosystems represent one of the most imperiled systems in North America and face continued and widespread degradation due to multiple factors including climate change, invasive species, and increased human development. Effective sagebrush management must consider how to best conserve and restore habitats to stem the decline of species that rely on them, especially given limited...

USGS is working closely with partners in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), and the Intermountain West Joint Venture (IMJV) to collect and summarize spatial datasets that describe measurable aspects of invasive annual grasses (e.g., biomass or presence) across the western United Stated and beyond. The products developed through this project provide...

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is committed to using science-informed decision making for the public lands and resources that it manages. Uses on these lands are varied, and decisions are complex. USGS and BLM are working together to identify specific needs for data, science, methods, and mitigation actions that can strengthen the science foundation for BLM planning and management decisions.

Resource management decisions need to be informed by up-to-date, quality science and data. However there is sometimes an overwhelming number of scientific publications for managers to consider in their decisions. This project provides concise summaries of recent, peer-reviewed science and data products about different resources and topics of management concern, integrated into a searchable tool.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) manages a large area of public lands in the western U.S. for multiple uses and values. Because some of these uses and values may conflict, the agency’s decisions can be controversial and are often challenged. We analyzed public legal records to help identify priority information needs that could strengthen science-based decision-making in the BLM