Conservation Briefs is a compilation of short news stories of interest to Outdoor News Bulletin readers. The stories cover a number of issues that have developed in the past month or provide updates on issues that were featured in previous ONB editions. Each story includes links to online resources for more details on each topic.

This Month:

• Gunnison Sage-Grouse Listed as Threatened
• USDA Opens Comment Period for Conservation Stewardship Program
• DOI and USDA Partner to Measure Conservation Impacts on Water Quality
• Conservation Initiatives Fare Well on Election Day

Gunnison Sage-Grouse Listed as Threatened

On November 12, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced that it would list the Gunnison sage-grouse as threatened under the Endangered Species Act. The species was originally proposed for listing as endangered, but the FWS determined that the collaborative conservation efforts undertaken by Utah and Colorado, where the birds are found, have helped reduce pressures allowing for the more flexible threatened designation. As part of the decision, the FWS designated 1.4 million acres as critical habitat. This is 275,000 acres less than was in the proposed designation to accommodate properties that have developed sage-grouse conservation plans or conservation easements as well as the refinement of some boundaries.

"USDA's partnerships with farmers and ranchers in voluntary efforts such as the 'Sage Grouse Initiative' and the 'Conservation Reserve Program' are helping to support both sound wildlife habitat management and agricultural production," said Jason Weller, Natural Resources Conservation Service Chief. "By harnessing innovative approaches included in today's announcement, USDA is committed to working with producers to voluntarily plan and deliver conservation activities that will help them be productive and give them certainty that they are in compliance with the ESA."

USDA Opens Comment Period for Conservation Stewardship Program

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced on November 5 that the U.S. Department of Agriculture was seeking comments on a proposed rule to implement the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). The program pays agricultural producers to install conservation enhancements that improve soil, water and air quality; water quantity; plant and animal resources; and energy conservation. The proposed rule updates some of the changes made to the program by the 2014 Agricultural Act, including reducing the enrollment cap to 10 million acres and updating dates for implementation and eligibility. In addition, the rule includes proposed changes that establish CSP as one of the programs that can accomplish the goals of the Regional Conservation Partnership Program, requires at least five priority resource concerns to be identified for each area or watershed, requires the Natural Resources Conservation Service to establish a science-based stewardship threshold for each priority resource concern, requires contracts to meet or exceed at least two priority resource concerns, and others. Comments are due by January 15, 2015 and can be submitted online, following instructions for Docket No. NRCS-2014-0008.

DOI and USDA Partner to Measure Conservation Impacts on Water Quality

In late October, the U.S. Departments of Agriculture and Interior announced that they had initiated a partnership agreement that will provide a clearer picture of the benefits of agricultural conservation on water quality. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) will be working together to better quantify the benefits of voluntary conservation efforts on the watershed scale. USGS will now use NRCS data on conservation work to factor into its water quality models that track how rivers receive and transport nutrients to downstream reservoirs and estuaries. The agencies will develop conservation intensity data sets that show the value of conservation efforts while protecting private information about individual farms, ranches or forests.

"This agreement will allow NRCS and USGS to combine resource management capabilities with science, and will give us the information we need to prioritize the most effective conservation strategies so that we can improve the quality of streams throughout the Mississippi River Basin," said Lori Caramanian, DOI deputy assistant secretary for Water and Science.

Conservation Initiatives Fare Well on Election Day

Many of the conservation funding initiatives on the ballot during the 2014 elections were approved by strong voter margins. Florida, New Jersey, California and Maine led the way passing their initiatives each with about a two-thirds majority. In addition a number of regional initiatives also passed with an overall dedication of about $13 billion for conservation. The biggest loss was in North Dakota where a constitutional amendment to dedicate 5 percent of the state's oil extraction tax for conservation failed by a vote of 21 to 79 percent.

Beyond the conservation funding initiatives, there were a few other natural resource related amendments being considered by some states. In Maine, 54 percent of voters rejected an initiative to ban recreational trapping, hounding and baiting during bear hunts. In addition, both Mississippi and Alabama overwhelmingly approved constitutional amendments to protect the right to hunt and fish.