Working Lands for Wildlife

As part of a department-wide effort to support connectivity of wildlife habitat on working landscapes (read the release), NRCS provides technical and financial assistance to participants who voluntarily make improvements to their working lands while the US Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) provides participants with regulatory predictability for the Endangered Species Act (ESA) when needed. This innovative approach empowers landowners with a means to make on-the-ground improvements and provides peace of mind that no matter the legal status of a species, they can keep their working lands working. The USDA and its federal, state and tribal partners are building off of these voluntary efforts - integrating public land management and locally led conservation to improve terrestrial wildlife habitat connectivity and corridors. Together, these efforts will help address habitat loss, barriers to animal movement and impacts from natural disasters and invasive species. 

This model has proven extremely popular with private landowners across the United States. More than 8,400 producers teamed up under WLFW and conserved nearly 12 million acres of wildlife habitat since 2010, an area more than five times the size of Yellowstone National Park.  WLFW has helped many species such as the greater sage-grouse in the West and the New England cottontail in the Northeast. For both of these species — in large part because of voluntary conservation efforts on private lands — the FWS determined listing under ESA was not warranted. Beginning in 2017, NRCS expanded this model, which now includes 48 states.

Frameworks for Conservation Action

In 2021-2022, a multi-state, areawide planning team produced the first biome-scale frameworks for wildlife conservation in the Great Plains grasslands, western sagebrush country, and for the Central and Eastern grasslands and savannas within 25 states in the northern bobwhite range. 

These frameworks for conservation action capture the science documenting the threats to biomes and the wildlife that are part of them, the conservation actions that NRCS can support to address these threats and benefit producers, and the NRCS goals for implementing these actions over time.

• Great Plains Grasslands Biome Framework
• Sagebrush Biome Framework
• Northern Bobwhite, Grasslands, and Savannas Framework

Conservation Model

The WLFW model builds on lessons learned in conservation over the years and includes:

• Trust and Credibility: NRCS takes a community, grassroots approach to conservation that’s based on the principles of neighborliness.
• Shared Vision: NRCS-recommended conservation practices benefit both wildlife and agriculture. Meet some of the Habitat Heroes who have made wildlife-friendly improvements to working lands across the Country.
• Strategic Approach: NRCS invests resources efficiently, where the biological returns are the highest. See wildlife conservation strategies to learn more about where NRCS is targeting its efforts.
• Accountability: NRCS and conservation partners use science to measure effectiveness of conservation and to quantify outcomes. See Science to Solutions reports for more information on the scientific backbone of WLFW and how species are responding to conservation.
• Leverage: NRCS brings together partners to multiply investments to achieve more conservation.

Regulatory Predictability: Through WLFW, NRCS partners with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to provide regulatory predictability under the Endangered Species Act. Similar to an insurance policy, predictability provides landowners with peace of mind that no matter the legal status of a species, they can keep their working lands working with an NRCS conservation plan in place.

Project Areas

WLFW is currently active in 48 states. Eight national and 14 state-identified initiatives are used to focus individual projects that meet both the needs of the species as well as those of the agricultural operations. Individual species are used as barometers for healthy, functioning landscapes where conservation efforts also benefit a multitude of additional species as well.

• Greater Sage-Grouse
• Gopher Tortoise
• Golden-Winged Warbler
• Monarch Butterflies
• WLFW Projects (State-Identified Projects)

More information

Conservation efforts on private lands are making a difference across the country, from the sagebrush country of the West to the forests of Appalachia. For these stories and many more, download the agency’s WLFW magazine:

• Supporting America's Working Lands

Latest Resources

• Decade of Science Support in the Sagebrush Biome: Science-driven conservation is a core tenet of Working Lands for Wildlife’s approach to conservation. This report summarizes more than a decade of WLFW-supported science in the sagebrush biome. Download the report.
• The Dance of the Sage Grouse: Bridging Culture and Conservation digital brochure: This new two-sided poster-sized brochure highlights Native Americans’ conservation efforts with USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service on one side, and on the other side features artwork by Washoe Tribe of Nevada and California member and artist Louinda Garity, who reminds us that despite our different backgrounds and cultures, we are on common ground when it comes to valuing sage grouse and their habitat in the sagebrush sea. (Download Poster) (PDF; 27.5 MB)  View Multimedia story.
• WLFW Implementation Strategy for Gopher tortoise: This FY20-24 plan will support landowners in restoring and managing almost 940,000 acres in the longleaf pine systems of the Southeast. Download the strategy.
• WLFW Conservation Strategy for Golden-winged Warbler: This five-year game plan will guide efforts to enable forest landowners to manage for 15,000 acres of breeding habitat by the end of fiscal 2021. Download the strategy.
• ‘Healthy Sagebrush Communities’ digital poster: This new poster highlights the wildlife of the unique but imperiled sagebrush landscape as well as the steps ranchers are taking to restore and protect it. Download the poster. View the multimedia story.    
• #HabitatHero: John Hoover multimedia story: Meet John, a Pennsylvania forest landowner who is managing his forests for two at-risk birds, the golden-winged warbler and cerulean warbler. View the multimedia story.    
• #HabitatHero: Greg Peterson multimedia story: Meet Greg, a Colorado rancher who is managing native rangelands to benefit livestock and sage grouse. View the multimedia story.     

Email Updates 

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Contacts

Mark Defley, (202) 690-1414; Tim Griffiths, (406) 600-3908; Bridgett Costanzo, (757) 817-5803