Sagebrush restoration focus of Nevada projects through Department of Interior

LAS VEGAS ( KLAS ) — Nearly $1 million has been set aside for six Nevada projects next year as the Department of Interior’s efforts include sagebrush restoration and other environmental priorities. It’s part of $2 billion in allocations nationwide, according to a U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USF&WS) news release.

The federal projects will support management of invasive grasses, reduce wildfire risks, remove conifers, and restore sagebrush habitat, sometimes with matching funds from the state.

USF&WS announced on Tuesday nearly $10 million in fiscal year 2025 funds from President Joe Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to support 53 strategic projects in Western states. See more about the Interior Department’s plan here .

One example involves reducing the spread of invasive annual grasses through herbicide application and seeding native plants. The Northwestern Nevada Large-Scale Rangeland Restoration, which received $308,500 for fiscal year 2025, will improve overall rangeland conditions in and around core sagebrush habitats in northwestern Nevada. This project is in collaboration with the Summit Lake Paiute Tribe and the Nevada Department of Wildlife.

The six local projects are mostly in northwest and northeast Nevada, and another $280,000 has been allocated for statewide projects. A map showing the projects notes that $130,000 is set aside to fund a sagebrush coordinator position.

Nevada is one of several states with crucial habitat for the greater sage grouse, which is listed as “near threatened” as sagebrush habitats have been reduced by fire and rural development. The Sagebrush Keystone Initiative involves efforts to target invasive grasses, reduce wildfire risks, restore native plants, and restore and protect riparian and wet meadows.

A 2022 U.S Geological Survey report found an average of 1.3 million acres of sagebrush have been lost or degraded each year over the last 20 years. The sagebrush ecosystem is the largest contiguous ecosystem in the lower 48 states at more than 175 million acres. It is home to “Tribal and rural communities, a driver of agricultural economies, and a host for a diversity of wildlife, including the greater sage-grouse, migrating herds of big game, and more than 350 species – many of which live nowhere else in the world,” according to the USF&WS news release.

“It’s more important than ever to improve landscape resilience by managing invasive annual grasses and safeguarding water resources throughout sagebrush country to address impacts from climate change and increased wildfires,” USF&WS Director Martha Williams said. “These shovel-ready projects are addressing the highest priority threats to sagebrush ecosystem health and improving watershed integrity both in this arid landscape and downstream to support the people and wildlife who call this area home.”

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