Financial Incentives for Landowners to Protect Greater Sage Grouse Critical Habitat

“It’s based on a per-head per-day basis to cover that additional cost. We encourage those producers who are applying to put the cattle or the bison into the set-aside to maintain those livestock on a maintenance ration over a defined period of time. Cattle and bison that come into the program cannot not be on the program any longer than 63 days,” Griffin said.

She says the set-aside and the premiumincrease subsidy reflect the Ministry of Agriculture’s commitment to helping the livestock sector deal with the effects of the pandemic. And the WLPIP, in general, is an important risk-management tool for producers.

“This insurance product is so important to our industry to protect them against an event like we are going through right now,” Griffin said. “And then when you’ve got costs to purchase that go way out of the norm of what they would normally pay, Minister Marit [agriculture minister David Marit] felt it to be very important to try to provide as much assistance as we possibly could.”

On a related note, she adds the WLPIP cash settlement window starts on September 14. “The largest participant in the program is our cow-calf sector,” she said. Fall run is about here, and if any of those producers have questions give us a call. We’ll help them through it.” B

The Saskatchewan Stock Growers Association (SSGA) in partnership with the South of the Divide Conservation Action Program Inc. (SODCAP Inc.) have successfully implemented “Results Based Conservation Agreements” (RBCAs) with producers of two Grazing Corporations, Val Marie Grazing Corp and the Beaver Valley Grazing Corp, to protect 50,626 acres of Greater Sage Grouse Critical Habitat. In total, these two grazing corporations are responsible for managing 160,000 acres of native grasslands, which includes critical habitat for several species in addition to the Greater Sage Grouse, such as Sprague’s Pipit, Swift Fox and Mormon Metalmark.

RBCAs were developed so that the Grazing Corporations are rewarded financially upon achieving the results. “Results” refers to habitat targets described below, that a producer can manage for, over and above the current normal industry standards for livestock production. These habitat targets for species at risk are measurable and quantifiable, based on the current state of knowledge and within the ecological potential of the range site. Habitat targets for species at risk are greater than the habitat that exists under normal agricultural practices, which provide for basic forage and livestock needs. For example, important habitat attributes the greater sage grouse include healthy and robust sagebrush plants for food and cover and forbs for food for the chicks. Litter is also important for cover, enough to hide in but not so much that it would impede movement of the birds. Healthy grasslands in good range condition are necessary for foraging and brood rearing areas. These types of agreements are nonprescriptive, meaning that the producer is the decision maker.

During the summers of 2019 and 2020, SODCAP staff and contracted students monitored the habitat targets on lands under agreements to determine if habitat requirements were met. The monitoring protocol used for Greater Sage Grouse included eighty 100m transects and followed habitat characteristics that can be influenced by livestock grazing: forb canopy cover, herbaceous droop height, sagebrush robel pole and litter loads. Upon achieving the Habitat Targets for Greater Sage Grouse, producers from both Grazing Corporations received a financial payment incentive based on $3.50/ acre per year. This project was funded by the Habitat Stewardship Program (HSP) of Environment and Climate Change Canada (ECCC), and the US National Fish and Wildlife Foundation (NFWF). B