Private Land Conservation, Public Land Benefits
Picture this
A cow elk gives birth to a calf in the mountains of Idaho.
The calf spends the next six months in its lush summer range before following a well-worn migratory path to a neighboring valley to spend the winter.
That critical winter habitat includes property owned by a family who manages the land to benefit their ranching operation.
The calf, a bull, returns winter after winter to that same ranch in the valley.
Years later a hunter hears the shrill bugle of a bull elk high on a mountain one September morning. Slowly the hunter inches closer. Finally within shooting range, they shoot, their arrow finding it’s target, the bull providing a year’s worth of meat to the hunter’s family.
The story of the hunter and the bull, one common across Idaho, was made possible thanks to the benefits private land provided to that animal during its lifetime.
Private lands in Idaho
Roughly 31% of the land in Idaho is privately owned. Wildlife, of course, does not adhere to the same property boundaries as humans. Migratory species especially rely on a patchwork of land ownership to survive from year to year, whether that land is someone’s private ranch, farm, or expansive BLM-managed sagebrush steppe.
So shouldn’t habitat conservation efforts be just as diverse?
This is where the US Fish and Wildlife’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program (Partners Program) comes into play.
Working alongside willing landowners and within designated priority landscapes, the Partners Program began in 2006 and has become a shining example of the possibilities for habitat conservation on private land.
“These lands have to have three foundational components to ensure they’re viable: looking through economic, ecological and social lenses”, said Jason Pyron, a wildlife biologist with USFWS who oversees Idaho’s Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program.
Landowners tend to focus on the economic lens, while balancing that alongside social and ecological lenses. Idaho’s hunting and fishing community will keep the ecological lens at the forefront. This overlap offers many opportunities to collaborate and provide benefits to all stakeholders.
“We have some highly migratory species in Idaho, and due to the way our landscape is dissected by private lands in valley bottoms, we are at a high risk of losing significant proportions of these populations if we don’t incentivize landowners to keep these lands open. I hope the hunting and fishing community fully appreciates what these landscapes do”, added Pyron.
Where the needs of wildlife and the needs of private landowners collide is where the Partners Program comes into play.
A vision for the future in Idaho’s high desert
Tucked away in Idaho’s vast Owyhee County lies Triangle Ranch, owned by the Steiner family. Rock Creek, a main artery through the landscape, is formed on and flows through the ranch. Over the years the Steiner family has watched Rock Creek stream flows diminish, causing water tables to drop too low for roots of the nearby plants to reach. The resulting loss of biodiversity on the landscape was a problem the Steiner family wished to solve.
“With the help of various individuals from the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the Governor’s Office of Species and Conservation, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, we were able to introduce and establish a beaver population to heal the damage of this stream erosion. With the establishment of the Beaver Dam Analogs (BDAs), the restoration of Rock Creek has started,” said John Steiner.
Not long after the BDA structures were installed, the Steiner family began to see beneficial results for the landscape, the wildlife, and their ranching operation.
“With higher ground water we have noticed the return of springs, natural shrubs, grasses and other plant life. This has resulted in the return of many wildlife species including the Spotted Frog.”
The improved health of Rock Creek has provided clear benefits across a wide spectrum for the Triangle Ranch and the wildlife that calls the landscape home.
Beaver Dam Analogs being installed on Triangle Ranch. USFWS Photo
Starting small for big impacts
Idaho’s Bruneau River, a tributary of the Snake, is an important haven for migratory waterfowl. Fourteen years ago Kristy Pigeon, a long-time Idahoan, purchased a ranch with her husband and business partner near the banks of this quiet river.
One day, while flipping through a Ducks Unlimited magazine, Kristy came across a small ad. It was her first introduction to the Partners for Fish and Wildlife Program and would be the beginning of a strong partnership on her ranch.
The first project, fencing off a spring Kristy identified as important wildlife habitat, went off without a hitch. Later, she partnered again with the Partners Program, IDFG, Ducks Unlimited, and NRCS to create a perennial wetland on the property, replacing a neglected seepage area.
Green-winged teal from along the Bruneau River. USFWS Photo.
“Today there are ducks that breed in that wetland. It’s also a resting spot for birds and other animals, so from a wildlife standpoint it has been a big success,” remarked Kristy.
As well as those first two projects, the Partners Program has helped accomplish sediment removal, reseeding, burning, and bullrush removal on Kristy’s property. Each project contributes to a healthier habitat for wildlife and a more efficient ranching operation.
Reflecting on all the work that has been accomplished, Kristy has high praise for the Partners Program and those from US Fish and Wildlife that she’s worked alongside.
“Every ranch is going to have some area that could potentially be of great benefit to wildlife. The Partners Program is an opportunity to try and come up with a win-win for both wildlife and a ranch’s management program and income-producing activities. I’ve personally found working with USFWS to be helpful and being able to get projects accomplished without a huge amount of red tape is refreshing.”
The future of private land habitat conservation
So what next?
Pyron looks to the future of the Partners Program with excitement and hope. “My big vision is that people in Idaho look at the USFWS in these rural communities and say ‘what an integral part of our working landscape in this community’”.
“I would also hope that people, hunters and anglers especially, realize how critically important the program is for the lifecycle of many different species in Idaho”, he added.
Threats to wildlife and habitat certainly don’t end at property boundaries. Efforts like the Partners Program will help give wildlife the greatest chance to thrive across changing landscapes, and will provide benefits not only to private landowners, but to hunters and anglers as well - so long as we’re willing to roll up our sleeves and get to work together.