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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has announced a new investment of $4.5 million to continue and expand an existing partnership between the BLM and the Intermountain West Joint Venture which works to conserve bird habitat in Western states. The partnership works to conserve and restore sagebrush habitat and improve rangeland health. Sagebrush habitat is found across several Western states and hosts a community of plants and animals including the greater sage-grouse, whose populations have been declining in recent years.
"Remarkable things happen when Westerners work together," BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning said in a statement, adding that the funding "will leverage the power of partnerships between government agencies, communities, landowners, industry, and non-profits for the shared goal of improving sagebrush habitat and rangeland health." This funding, part of the Inflation Reduction Act passed in August 2022, is in addition to the $161 million announced earlier this year for the BLM's 21 Restoration Landscapes across the West.
Protecting the wild, vast Owyhee Canyonlands
In the latest episode of the Center for Western Priorities podcast, The Landscape, Kate and Aaron are joined by Tim Davis, founder and executive director of Friends of the Owyhee, and Karly Foster, campaign manager at the Oregon Natural Desert Association, to talk about how we can better protect the Owyhee Canyonlands. The Owyhee Canyonlands span from southeast Oregon into southwest Idaho, and it is one of the most remote, intact landscapes in the Western U.S. Senator Ron Wyden of Oregon is running a bill that would help balance extractive uses and conservation in the landscape, and the coalition working to protect the Owyhee just launched a campaign asking President Joe Biden to designate the region as a national monument.
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Why are we subsidizing fossil fuel companies, which are the most profitable in history, to extend their lifespan by decades? We should be spending that money on real solutions.”
