A newly launched framework for migratory big-game conservation by the U.S. Department
of Agriculture (USDA) has its roots in efforts piloted by Wyoming and informed by
the state’s university.
The USDA’s “Migratory Big Game: A Framework for Conservation Action” document is described by the agency as the most unified, landscape-scale approach
undertaken by the USDA’s Farm Service Agency and Natural Resources Conservation Service
to support big-game conservation while putting farmers and ranchers first by keeping
working lands working. The USDA unveiled the framework this week.
Recognizing that species such as mule deer, pronghorn and elk need large, connected
landscapes spanning both private and public lands to meet their daily, seasonal and
annual needs, the framework provides the recipe to align Farm Bill programs -- such
as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program, the Agricultural Conservation Easement
Program and the Grasslands Conservation Reserve Program -- to alleviate threats to
migratory big game identified by state wildlife agencies.
Wyoming is a foundational component of the history of this framework. A similar effort
was originally piloted in Wyoming in 2022, thanks to leadership and insight from the
governor’s office, state USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service office, and the
Wyoming Game and Fish Department. That effort, named USDA’s Migratory Big Game Pilot,
brought tens of millions of dollars to Wyoming for conservation on working lands that
benefit ranchers and migratory big game. That pilot has since expanded into a full-blown
USDA initiative, now supporting migratory big game in five states.
Behind the scenes, the University of Wyoming has played and will continue to play
a significant role in these efforts. The U.S. Geological Survey’s Wyoming Cooperative
Fish and Wildlife Research Unit at UW has conducted much of the foundational research
in migration ecology and is leading the Western Migration Corridor Mapping Team, which
has mapped hundreds of migrations across Western states. Further, the science adviser
to the USDA’s migratory big-game work is UW Associate Professor Jerod Merkle, in the
College of Agriculture, Life Sciences and Natural Resources’ Department of Zoology
and Physiology.
“This framework is a great example of how UW works with our partners to ensure Wyoming’s
agricultural industry, rural communities and wildlife populations continue to thrive,”
says Kelly Crane, the Farm Credit Services of America Dean of the College of Agriculture,
Life Sciences and Natural Resources. “Wyoming leads the nation in collaborative, research-based
habitat management strategies that balance the needs of wildlife while sustaining
the agriculture, recreation and energy economies which support our communities. We
have been studying, managing and conserving migratory big game for decades, and it
is exciting to see the very important role USDA can play in such efforts on private,
working lands.”
The migratory big-game framework extends across the 17 Western states and is the third
USDA framework in the West. The framework focuses on state- and tribal-identified
priority areas, which provide shovel-ready options to fully protect and improve the
ecological potential of the land for both agriculture and migratory big game. The
work outlined in the framework falls into three categories: protecting habitat and
connectivity; reducing barriers to movement; and improving habitat.
Working across public and private lands and coordinating between federal and state
agencies, the scale, collaboration and outcomes needed to keep the West’s migratory
big game healthy and abundant can be achieved, the agency says.
To learn more, go to www.wlfw.org/migratory-big-game-framework-in-focus-wildlife-conservation-through-sustainable-ranching/.
