Welcome to the Greater Sage-Grouse Range-Wide Issues Forum!

Updated May 1, 2006

This is the home page for the Greater Sage-Grouse Range-Wide Issues Forum (Forum), convened by the U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution (Institute) and sponsored by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA). The Forum process was completed May 1, 2006 with the release of Findings and Recommendations - Final Report of the Greater Sage-grouse Range-wide Issues Forum (Forum Report). Results documented in the Forum Report and its attachments will be integrated with other local, state/provincial, tribal and agency conservation strategies into the Greater Sage-grouse Comprehensive Conservation Strategy.

The Forum Report identifies seven priority goals for the conservation of greater sage-grouse, including creation of long-term shared leadership and commitment for strategy implementation, identification and protection of existing high quality sagebrush habitat, and stabilization of sagebrush habitats in decline. Other priority goals relate to database enhancement and information-sharing, research and monitoring, and properly managed livestock grazing.

Forum participants identified funding, leadership to support a long-term effort and an appropriate organizational structure to sustain the effort as critical to the success of the greater sage-grouse conservation strategy.

While there was considerable agreement among Forum participants about core values, preliminary strategies and critical, priority actions, the Forum Report acknowledges the presence of unresolved concerns at the conclusion of this process. Most prominent among these concerns are those related to livestock grazing and energy development, as well as concerns regarding implementation of regulatory mechanisms.

The Forum was convened in November 2005 to facilitate the collaborative development of approaches to address issues, needs, opportunities and partnerships related to the conservation of greater sage-grouse and sagebrush habitats at the range-wide scale. Thirty-five people representing a broad array of perspectives related to greater sage-grouse conservation participated in the Forum process. Forum participants were chosen based on their experience, background and knowledge of greater sage-grouse conservation issues, and their ability to work collaboratively and constructively on development of strategies to address range-wide issues.

WAFWA is comprised of fish and wildlife agency directors from the western United States and Canada. The U.S. Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution is a federal program established in 1998 by the U.S. Congress to assist parties in resolving environmental, natural resource and public land conflicts. It is a program of the Tucson-based Morris K. Udall Foundation, an independent agency of the executive branch.

For comments or questions about this website, please contact: usiecr@ecr.gov. This page was last updated 1/13/2011.