Sharp-tailed grouse habitat project announces batching date

Conservation Implementation Strategy (CIS) Project Sharp-tailed Grouse Habitat Project will soon be underway in Campbell, Codington, Day, Deuel, Edmunds, Grant, Marshall, McPherson, Roberts, and Walworth Counties, serving the community and improving land quality.

This three-year project is one of 16 selected in Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 and federally-funded through the NRCS conservation programs in the 2018 Farm Bill. The purpose of this project is to improve rangeland health and will be implemented by NRCS and South Dakota Department of Game, Fish and Parks (SDGFP) in collaboration with farmers, ranchers, and landowners within the project areas who are eligible to apply for financial assistance.

While applications are accepted year-round, the batching date for FY2022 funding is January 21, 2022.

The NRCS’ conservation specialists and partners are coordinating these projects throughout the state. Through collectively focusing expertise and resources on the highest priority resource concerns in the highest priority areas, CIS projects can yield impressive returns. Collaborative funding and support from other agencies and groups create a coordinated community effort and focus on issues of concern. The Sharp-tailed Grouse Habitat Project partners with farmers and ranchers to directly benefit range health and wildlife habitat. Project sponsors identified habitat loss and overgrazing as resource concerns and developed this CIS project to address the situation.

“The need for large, contiguous tracts of quality grassland is key to the survival of Sharp-tailed grouse and other native upland species,” says Amy Engels, District Conservationist, in Clear Lake.

To apply to be a part of this project, find and contact your local NRCS Service Center at http://www.bit.ly/contactnrcssd, or contact Eric Magedanz, with SDGFP at (605) 880-2651. For more information on the CIS in South Dakota, or if you have ideas for a project, visit http://www.bit.ly/SDNRCS-CIS, or contact Jeff Vander Wilt, Assistant State Conservationist for Programs, at jeffrey.vanderwilt@ usda.gov or (605) 352-1226.