Preserving Sage Grouse and Ranching with Conservation Easements

The conversion of native grassland and sagebrush to cropland is one of the greatest threats to wildlife that depend on this disappearing habitat such as greater sage-grouse. A new study projects that, if conversion rates continue as expected, sage grouse populations could drop another 5-7 percent in eastern Montana. But the study also offers a solution. Keep habitat intact by focusing voluntary conservation easements that retain ranching as a desired and compatible land use in areas that are most at risk to new cultivation.

The study, co-authored by scientists from The Nature Conservancy...