Sand County Foundation is proud to be part of the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation’s Grassland Resilience and Conservation Initiative. This landmark conservation effort will advance conservation practices across America's imperiled grasslands. 

Grasslands are a vital, threatened ecosystem that cover nearly one-third of the nation. Grasslands, including tallgrass and shortgrass prairies store roughly 30% of the world's soil-based carbon while providing essential habitat for over 400 bird species and diverse wildlife. 

About the Program 

• The Grasslands Resilience and Conservation Initiative is designed to help promote and accelerate regenerative grazing practices, habitat restoration, and conservation of wildlife and water on working ranchland across the U.S.
• Sand County Foundation will provide technical assistance to cattle ranchers to accelerate virtually any regenerative grazing practices that can support grasslands in California, Colorado, Kansas, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin and Wyoming.
• In addition to the technical assistance provided, ranchers can receive cost share for these conservation practices.  

Impact on Working Land

• This work focuses on conservation practices that can improve soil health, support wildlife habitat, and strengthen the resilience of working ranchland.
• Healthy grasslands support both people and wildlife. This effort advances voluntary conservation practices across the land that ranchers manage every day.

Sand County Foundation’s Approach: 

By working collaboratively with ranchers, our primary objective is strengthening our nation’s agricultural sector and the resilience of our grasslands. We will do this by implementing conservation strategies on an additional one million acres by providing technical assistance to regions with the greatest opportunities for landscape-level grassland conservation.

Sand County Foundation’s efforts will address a common bottleneck in project implementation by providing landowners with direct technical assistance. Using the NRCS Conservation Planning framework, our team will create "shovel-ready" plans that can be used directly in farm bill programs, including the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP). To streamline the process, we’ll guide ranchers through their options for financial assistance, and use a use a batch-and-build method to work with groups of ranchers who want to collaborate on their conservation projects and streamline the paperwork involved. 

Why Grasslands?

Grasslands are critical for providing habitat to a wide range of plants and animals, and for mitigating climate change. Historically, they receive little protection and funding, but they provide essential ecosystem services including pollinator habitat, water regulation (quality and quantity), supporting soil health/reduced erosion. There is also a cultural significance to Indigenous groups and local communities. They are vital for carbon sequestration. Grasslands store more carbon below round than forests proportionally. 

Less than 30% of US total land area is grassland. And the US is home to two of the largest remaining intact grasslands, the Nebraska Sandhills and Wyoming Basin Shrub Steppe.