New Report Highlights Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative Outcomes Since 2010
Released this month is a new report detailing the conservation outcomes achieved through the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative (LPCI) in the southern Great Plains. The Lesser Prairie-Chicken Initiative is part of the USDA-NRCS’ Working Lands for Wildlife efforts.
With 95% of lesser prairie-chicken habitat on private lands, conservation efforts focused on private working lands are critically important to the species and rural economies.
Report findings show that NRCS worked with 883 landowners to conserve 1.6 million acres, which is 107% of the original goal outlined in the LPCI strategy.
Habitat suitability for prairie chickens improved by 11% for every 1% of the landscape that NRCS put into Prescribed Grazing.
NRCS worked with producers to transition expiring CRP fields from idle to working grasslands. These actions contributed to the outcome that 60% of expired CRP fields in the region remained as grasslands a decade later.
Peruse this report to learn more about outcomes in conservation achieved for Great Plains grasslands.
The Sage Grouse Initiative is a partnership-based, science-driven effort that uses voluntary incentives to proactively conserve America’s western rangelands, wildlife, and rural way of life. This initiative is part of Working Lands For Wildlife, which is led by USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service.