Voluntary conservation on privately-owned rangelands is a cornerstone of sagebrush and sage-grouse conservation. Actions that maintain and improve sagebrush ecosystem health also benefit overall rangeland health, sage-grouse and other wildlife species, and the sustainability of ranching operations. Private ranching operations steward sage-grouse habitat by providing large areas of continuous, high quality habitat, and the continued sustainability of these operations is central to preventing habitat loss. In Oregon’s high desert environments, positive change is often slow and conservation actions must be maintained over the long term to  sustain benefits. Voluntary conservation agreements through Sage-Grouse Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances (CCAAs) are designed to support the ecological integrity and uplift of Oregon’s privately owned rangelands. These long-term conservation agreements operate at a ranch-wide scale to address and monitor all known threats to sage-grouse and their habitat, providing both comprehensive and durable benefits.  The CCAA program leverages several conservation programs for enhancing and restoring private rangelands offered by the USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service and funders like the Oregon Watershed Enhancement Board. Together the CCAA Program along with these Federal and State organizations have been successful in assisting landowners in improving rangelands to benefit wildlife and ranching operations - and there remains huge potential for scaling up these successes across the landscape.

The CCAA programs in Oregon became official in 2014, when the Greater sage-grouse was a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. This became an incentive to proactively manage for the benefit of sage-grouse and sagebrush rangeland health. In these 30-year agreements between US Fish & Wildlife Service and a local entity (Soil & Water Conservation District or Watershed Council), enrolled properties are assessed for risks  to sage-grouse and their habitat (which are often the primary threats to overall sagebrush ecosystem health) and actions are identified to address those threats. Enrollees voluntarily agree to certain conservation actions and work with their local District or Council to develop plans to promote rangeland health and sage-grouse populations. In exchange, these landowners are prioritized for funding assistance to complete conservation actions and are provided regulatory protections in the event of a future listing of sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act. As part of the process, comprehensive site-specific plans are developed, priority actions are implemented to improve rangeland conditions, and threats to sage-grouse are decreased. Agreements are monitored and adaptively managed over the course of their 30-year duration to ensure durability of conservation actions over multi-decadal time frames. The CCAA approach to long-term, whole-ranch conservation complements and facilitates coordination and collaboration across public and private boundaries toward the state’s vision of “all hands, all lands” sagebrush conservation.