The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) recently released a new magazine that outlines how Working Lands for Wildlife (WLFW) partnerships are helping to conserve landscapes, habitats, and wildlife populations. Launched in 2012, WLFW has directed Farm Bill conservation funding for voluntary conservation efforts to improve habitat for target species. The target species become the "barometer for success" across a landscape, an approach that is seeing success for species such as New England cottontail and through efforts such as the Sage Grouse Initiative. The document outlines a "Recipe for Success" of common themes that helped these conservation efforts be successful, including: trust and credibility, shared vision, strategic approach, accountability, leverage, and regulatory predictability. The magazine helps NRCS tell the story of WLFW as the agency looks to replicate its success by identifying new landscapes and target species as future priorities.

"WLFW is a novel partnership that builds on decades of conservation efforts with forward-looking producers stepping up to conserve habitat for wildlife," commented NRCS Chief Jason Weller. "This partnership has delivered many unprecedented successes over the years, and we now have a proven model, or ?recipe,' that works. We're proud of our collective past achievements and look forward to continuing our work with America's producers to conserve landscapes for future generations."

NRCS is hosting a teleconference on June 20 from 2:00-2:30 pm ET for conservation partners to discuss potential new landscapes and species to consider as they look to expand WLFW partnerships. The call in number is 877-369-5243, passcode 0575452#. Proposals for potential new priority landscapes and target species are due to NRCS by August 31, 2016.