Twin Falls District Sagebrush Restoration

Background information. The Twin Falls District of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has experienced an incredible increase in large-scale fires that have completely altered the fire regime across the landscape. These areas were historically a Wyoming sagebrush steppe ecosystem, but are now dominated by large areas of grasses devoid of a shrub component. This vegetation change has resulted in significant loss of sage-grouse habitat and has altered the fire return interval so the area now burns every few years rather than the historic 50- to 75- year interval (Barret and others, 2010). In response to these landscape changes, the BLM has partnered with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game (DFG) in an effort to grow and plant sagebrush [...]