A new study shows that the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP), a U.S. federal program that pays farmers to plant agricultural land with environmentally beneficial vegetation for 10- to 15-year contracts, is helping to preserve the habitat of the sage grouse. The CRP program has contributed to maintaining portions of Washington state's Columbia Basin where the sage grouse still live. The fields planted under the CRP program provide cover for the sage grouse and other animals, and without these lands, the sage grouse would have lost about two-thirds of their habitat, leading to their possible extinction in two of three subpopulations. The sage grouse population in Eastern Washington has declined by 77% since 1960, and only about 8% of the birds' historic habitat remains. The study suggests that if Washington's CRP lands were reallocated to be near existing sage grouse populations, their habitat could be increased by as much as 63%. The CRP program is seen as a way to facilitate the movement of the sage grouse and other species over time to track their climate niche as climate change progresses.
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