Washington Sagebrush

A tour of Washington state's sagebrush steppe and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Bipartisan Infrastructure Law restoration projects.

Sagebrush and grasses under a cloudy sky with the official U.S. Fish and Wildlife logo of a duck flying and a fish jumping out of the water on top of a background of a sun rising over a mountain.

The Sagebrush Steppe

North America's sagebrush steppe ecosystem is large. The area is so massive, in fact, that is sometimes referred to as the "sagebrush sea." Dominated by sagebrush and short grasses, the arid ecosystem occurs across thirteen western states and two Canadian provinces.

Washington’s Columbia Basin represents the northwestern-most corner of this sagebrush steppe ecosystem in the U.S. It covers 39% of Washington and extends into Oregon and Idaho. The basin is surrounded by mountains and is often referred to as a plateau. The surrounding mountains block moisture laden clouds from reaching the plateau and thus, the area receives very little rain.

A rugged western landscape with sagebrush, open ground, and grasses under a cloudless sky.

A typical view of Washington's sagebrush county featuring sagebrush of different ages and heights. (Credit: D. Husband/USFWS)

Washington's slice of the ecosystem is unique from surrounding states in many ways.

Unlike other states with large areas of federally managed land, Washington's sagebrush steppe habitat exists today as a patchwork of mixed quality sagebrush under various land ownerships and uses. Private ranch and cropland operations grow crops in fertile soils across the basin. Tribal reservations of the Confederated Tribes and Bands of the Yakama Nation and the Colville Reservation encompass areas south and north in the Columbia Basin. The area is the ancestral land of the Cayuse, Walla Walla, Umatilla, Yakama, Nez Perce, and Spokane peoples. In addition to 12 Colville tribes and bands. The Department of Energy's Hanford Site lies adjacent to protected sagebrush lands on Hanford Reach National Monument and the Central Washington National Wildlife Refuge Complex, both managed by Department of the Interior. In addition to Tribal and Federal lands, Washington State Parks, the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, and the Nature Conservancy own lands within this area.

A map of the state of Washington with the Columbia Basin of central and eastern Washington outlined in black.

The Columbia Basin (outlined in black) is within the eastern portion of Washington state. (Credit: ESRI)

Today, the vast majority of the acreage in the Columbia Basin is private land. The number of federally owned and managed acres of sagebrush is far less than those in private ownership, providing an important opportunity to partner with private landowners to conserve the state’s remaining sagebrush steppe habitat.

A ranch hand moving cattle within the sagebrush steppe in Washington (Credit: Chelan-Douglas Land Trust)

A definition and visual example of habitat fragmentation.

This is a working landscape. As a result of decades of intensive human use and modification, largely on private lands important to ranching and agriculture, the sagebrush steppe ecosystem is now fragmented. However, this does not reduce its continued importance to people, animals and plants, although its ability to support native animals and plants is diminished.

The advent of center pivot irrigation opened up unprecedented agricultural opportunities in this region (see map below for 2022 crops in Washington). In turn, high quality sagebrush was destroyed or lost, resulting in a fragmented landscape. However, there are some intact sagebrush areas on Conservation Reserve Program and other Natural Resource Conservation Service lands that continue to support intact sagebrush.

Crops in Washington State in 2022 (Credit:  Washington State Department of Agriculture )

At-Risk Species

There are several threatened or endangered species reliant on the sagebrush steppe ecosystem in Washington. Each has a unique story and connection to sagebrush steppe ecosystem. Here are a few key examples of these notable species.

Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit

The federally endangered  Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit  (Brachylagus idahoensis) is the smallest rabbit in North America and the only one to dig its own burrow. Burrow entrances are often under or near large sagebrush, the same plant that makes up 90% of its diet. Decades of habitat loss reduced its population to 16 individuals by 2001 and the species was emergency listed as a Distinct Population Segment under the Endangered Species Act in 2003. The Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife is a pivotal on-the-ground recovery partner managing a robust breeding and translocation program in central Washington today.

Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits are small! Their burrows entrances are the size of a grapefruit, as pictured on the right underneath mature sagebrush. (Credits: K. Veverka/USFWS (first two images from left); D. Husband/USFWS (image on right))

Learn more about our partnerships to recover the endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit:


Umtanum Desert Buckwheat

The Umtanum Desert Buckwheat has the best view on the plateau. (Credit: R. Riggs/USFWS)

The federally threatened  Umtanum Desert buckwheat  (Eriogonum codium) is found on the edge of a steep, north-facing basalt cliff on Umtanum Ridge in Hanford Reach National Monument. It is well adapted to hot dry summers and cold winters in the sagebrush steppe. This narrow-range endemic plant has only been documented at this one location, which presents recovery challenges, particularly related to dangers posed by wildfire. Amazingly, however, individual plants of the species can live for more than a century.


White Bluffs Bladderpod

White Bluffs Bladderpod (T. McCracken/USFWS)

The federally threatened  White Bluffs Bladderpod  (Physaria douglasii subsp. tuplashensis) is found on the White Bluffs high above the Columbia River, and like the Umtanum desert buckwheat, only within Hanford Reach National Monument. The national monument is one of the last protected contiguous sagebrush steppe habitat areas in Washington.


Douglas County, circled in black, represents one of the last remaining populations of sage grouse in Washington state. (Source:  Schroeder et al. 2000, Northwest Naturalist Volume 81:104-112 ).

Greater Sage-Grouse

Today, roughly 90% of the  state endangered greater sage-grouse  in Washington are found within Douglas County. These grouse are both larger and genetically distinct from other greater sage-grouse across the U.S. and so far, translocation programs to augment populations have been relatively unsuccessful.

Douglas County includes more lek areas than populations in more fragmented habitat like the Yakima Training Center to the south. Leks are areas where male grouse display to attract females. It has been recently shown that these grouse rely on Conservation Reserve Program fields for nesting. The Conservation Reserve Program has become a critical tool in sage-grouse conservation in Washington.

Male greater sage-grouse on a lek in Wyoming. (T. Koerner/USFWS)

Threats

Land use change

The fertile soils of the sagebrush steppe ecosystem and the advent of well drilling, center pivot irrigation, and the ability to pipe water from the Columbia River to the Columbia Basin resulted in the conversion of sagebrush habitats to agriculture. Solar energy development is also a growing threat to sagebrush steppe habitats.

Explore the Working Lands for Wildlife's  Landscape Explorer Tool  to see a historical image (circa 1950) compared with a present-day aerial image to examine land use change in the past 70-years.


Wildfire

 Less rainfall in the spring and summer, less snow in the winter, and snowpack melting earlier   (Average annual temperatures have increased by 3°F in Washington since 1925) , are contributing to an increase in wildfire prevalence in the region. Unprecedented wildfires are reducing remaining contiguous sagebrush steppe habitat as invasive grasses, like cheatgrass, are increasing fire intensity and outcompeting native bunch grasses and sagebrush.

Wildfire is reducing the amount of native habitat available to species and can result in direct mortality. From 2016 through 2020, 1,259,938 acres of greater sage-grouse habitat burned in Washington.

Wildfires in Washington from 1977 through 2022

Wildfires, pictured in red, in Washington from 1972 through 2022 largely occur within the Columbia Basin, outlined in black. (Credit: Washington Department of Natural Resources)

Wildfire and Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit Recovery

Wildfire can quickly burn sagebrush to ash, presenting an existential threat to species like the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit that rely on mature (30 year old) sagebrush for cover and food. Between 1999 and 2022, fires consumed most of the habitat in the species’ range. In 2017, the Sutherland Canyon Fire killed 80 rabbits when it burned an entire enclosure area as well as almost 30,000 areas of sagebrush. In 2020, dozens of rabbits were killed by the Pearl Hill Fire, which burned close to a quarter million acres in four days including rabbit enclosure and release areas. 

It's clear that fires will continue to be a pressing issue for our species in Washington. Fire management techniques, such as prescribed fire, and the control of invasive plants are important going forward to protect remaining sagebrush habitat.

Swipe the slider below to see how the Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit recovery emphasis area (some of the most important locations for the recovery of the species, in pink) has been impacted by wildfire (in red).

Wildfires, in red, have burned significant areas within Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit recovery areas, in pink.


Invasive Species

Invasive plant species, like cheatgrass (Bromus tectorum), have caused dramatic changes in the quality of Washington's sagebrush steppe habitat. Cheatgrass in particular has altered fire frequency and intensity in Washington. Fire also promotes the spread of cheatgrass, making post-fire efforts to suppress it as well as revegetate burned areas with native grasses ever more important.

The Sutherland Canyon Fire completely burned a significant area of The Nature Conservancy's Moses Coulee Preserve. Significant revegetation and restoration work is on-going to restore habitat.

Moses Coulee Preserve before and after the Pearl Hill Fire. Left: before (2018, J Gallie/WDFW) Right: after (2020, K. Veverka/USFWS)

Focusing Spatial Efforts

Where is sagebrush steppe habitat in Washington today?

Determining the most significant areas of sagebrush that remain in Washington is challenging.  However, there are several methods that can help identify areas that are important to conserve.

One of the earliest concerted efforts to map Washington's sagebrush was led by the  Arid Lands Initiative  (ALI), a diverse group of partners working within the ecosystem to advocate for and conserve species like the greater sage-grouse. While their map products extend beyond Washington's borders to encompass the entire Columbia Basin, it was the first time sagebrush in Washington was examined through a conservation prioritization lens. Check out the  final 2014 report .

To generate a more complete picture of the threats unique to sagebrush as well as the amount of cropland in the Columbia Basin, a  new spatial product  is out thanks in part to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's Science Applications program in collaboration with Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife and Terradapt! The  Washington Shrubsteppe Restoration and Resiliency Initiative  (WSRRI) was created with a network of state, private and federal support. The map will be updated annually and provide an up-to-date look at how the sagebrush steppe habitat in Washington changes over time.

Active Sage BIL Projects

Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Sagebrush Conservation

In 2021, President Biden signed the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law. This law included funding to  combat key threats to the sagebrush steppe including invasive species, wildfire, and climate change across 11 sagebrush biome states . To properly address these threats, the U.S. Geological Survey's Sagebrush Habitat Conservation model was developed to identify sagebrush priority core areas, opportunities to expand them, and other important rangeland areas across sagebrush states. Sagebrush priority core areas are intact and functioning areas of sagebrush habitats. This strategy builds on the "protect the core, grow the core" principle to first address the largest most intact and functioning areas before managing degraded areas.

"Sage BIL" refers to the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funds specifically for "shovel-ready" on-the-ground restoration projects aimed at defending and restoring sagebrush areas.

In Washington, there are 11 current Sage BIL projects. Take a tour around the state below to learn more about them.

There are 11 sage BIL projects in Washington state working to address key threats.

Click on the arrow to the right to walk through Washington Sage BIL projects.

1. Easement Acquisition Support for Sage-Grouse Habitat Protection

Awarded $186,000 in 2022

Badger Mountain is an important greater sage-grouse conservation area. In 2022, Chelan-Douglas Land Trust was awarded Sage BIL funds to help purchase three Natural Resource Conservation Service Agricultural Land Easements to protect 10,000 acres on Badger Mountain plateau from a proposed solar development.

These easements will be secured by the end of 2026 and will protect a landscape supporting and connecting greater sage-grouse populations in perpetuity.

Expected outcome:

Project partners:

2. Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit Recovery

Awarded $209,100 in 2023

The pygmy rabbit is found throughout most of the Great Basin. The Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit is a federally listed Distinct Population Segment found only in the Columbia Basin in Washington. The extinction risk of this small and isolated population is high.

The Washington Department of Fish & Wildlife has established a breeding and translocation program to aid in their recovery. However, large wildfires in 2017 and 2020 resulted in a major setback to the recovery program. In 2020 alone, the Pearl Hill Fire burned over 200,000 acres of sagebrush habitat, including an entire recovery emphasis area.

Sage BIL funds were awarded to WDFW to aid in rebuilding the recovery program, working with private landowners, and addressing new threats such as rabbit hemorrhagic disease, a disease tearing through wild rabbit populations nationwide.

Expected outcomes:

Project partner:

3. Moses Coulee Post-Fire Sage-Steppe Restoration: Phase II

Awarded $183,323 in 2022

The Nature Conservancy's (TNC) Moses Coulee Preserve is one of the largest contiguous areas of functional sagebrush steppe habitat left in the state.

The Preserve before the Pearl Hill Fire in 2020.

This preserve protects sagebrush habitat within steep-sided ravines carved by glacial floods called coulees. In 2020, wildfires burned with such intensity that mature stands of sagebrush pictured here were completely destroyed.

Right after the fire burned the Preserve.

Like many organizations, TNC has prioritized post-fire restoration projects on their affected lands. Continuing an established partnership between the USFWS, Pheasants Forever, and the Nature Conservancy, BIL funds will help to continue sagebrush and riparian restoration at Moses Coulee Preserve.

Starting from the ground up, this project will work to establish native bunchgrass species and Wyoming big sagebrush, control invasive plants, and enhance a riparian area.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

1 year into project implementation

4. Restoration of Stream and Riparian Habitat Conditions in Douglas County, Washington

Awarded $76,093 in 2024

Mesic and riparian habitat along Coyote Spring and McCartney Creek on The Nature Conservancy’s Moses Coulee Preserve in Douglas County are critically important to brood rearing sage-grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and other sagebrush-dependent animals. Restoring these habitats through low-tech restoration techniques will repair heavily incised reaches to improve ecological integrity and expand seasonally available water for longer into the dry hot summer months. 

Project Partners:

5. Post-Fire Restoration of Stream and Riparian Habitat Conditions on East Foster Creek in Douglas County, Washington

Awarded $100,000 in 2023

East Foster Creek is one of the primary riparian areas in Douglas County and functions as an important wildlife corridor to connect remnant patches of sagebrush steppe habitat.

Decades of development along the creek has resulted in erosion and the loss of ecological integrity and function of the creek. In 2020, the Pearl Hill Fire burned over 200,000 acres including a large portion of the East Foster Creek watershed, threatening habitat for sage-grouse, pygmy rabbits, sharp-tailed grouse, and the Washington ground squirrel.

This project will continue in-stream restoration work on East Foster Creek started in 2021 that restored over two miles of the main creek using low-tech restoration methods, including installing beaver dam analogs. These in-stream structures mimic beaver dams and increase ponding and the accumulation of sediments thereby increasing the function and integrity of the creek. 

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

6. Process-Based Stream Restoration in Smith Draw

Awarded $31,514 in 2022

Prior to the Pearl Hill Fire in 2020, Smith Draw supported stands of water birch, willow and other important riparian vegetation in a region of the state where water resources are extremely rare and usually degraded from historic land use. This project will restore stretches of the stream to improve its function, increase the water table, and benefit surrounding riparian and wet meadow habitat.

Stream head cuts like this can create further erosion downstream.

Sage BIL funding helped install 20-30 beaver dam analogs in Smith Draw on the WDFW-owned West Foster Creek Wildlife Area to create pools/ponds, facilitate channel meandering, reduce channel incision and head cutting, increase water storage, and expand floodplain and wet meadow habitat. Partners installed these structures in summer 2023.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

7. Low-tech Restoration in Streams and Meadows of Douglas County Wildlife Areas in Washington

Awarded $86,042 in 2024

This project will continue to restore stretches of Smith Draw, China Creek and School Creek to improve their function, increase the surrounding water table, and benefit adjacent riparian and wet meadow habitats.

WDFW proposes to install 15-25 beaver dam analogs to continue previous restoration work on the WDFW owned West Foster Creek Wildlife Area and Big Bend Wildlife Area to create pools, facilitate channel meandering, reducing channel erosion, increase water storage, and expand floodplain and wet meadow habitat.

Sage BIL funding helped install 20-30 beaver dam analogs in Smith Draw on the WDFW-owned West Foster Creek Wildlife Area to create pools/ponds, facilitate channel meandering, reduce channel incision and head cutting, increase water storage, and expand floodplain and wet meadow habitat. Partners installed these structures in summer 2023.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

8. Sagebrush Upland Improvement and Mesic Habitat Restoration in Douglas County, Washington - Part 1

Total Award $165,000 in 2024

Historical land uses in the Foster and McCartney creek watersheds have resulted in erosion.

Since the large-scale fires that occurred in 2020, several ALI and WSRRI partners have implemented upland perennial bunchgrass and shrub restoration projects as well as other instream restoration and riparian planting projects.

This project will continue to restore these watersheds by outplanting in riparian and wet meadow habitats along 10 stream miles of Foster, East Foster, and West Foster creeks and implementing early detection and rapid response surveys in support of the Douglas County Cooperative Weed Management Area.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

8. Sagebrush Upland Improvement and Mesic Habitat Restoration in Douglas County Washington - Part 2

Total Award $165,000 in 2024

An additional habitat restoration project will occur in the Wenatchee Foothills of the Cascades where sagebrush steppe habitat meets the development of the city of Wenatchee, including within conservation easements held by the Chelan Douglas Land Trust. Post-fire restoration will occur in the Wenatchee Foothills adjacent to the city to improve sagebrush steppe habitat for mule deer in their winter range and along migration corridors.

Expected outcome:

Project partners:

9. Sagebrush Steppe Restoration for Fire and Climate Resilience on Hanford Reach National Monument

Awarded $93,786 in 2023

Maintaining and expanding the remaining high-quality sage-steppe habitats on the Hanford Reach National Monument, especially on the monument’s north slope, is critical. However, in some areas, the habitat is more degraded and/or dominated by an invasive species understory.

Expanding quality sagebrush steppe habitat will be accomplished by seeding and planting mixes of native grasses, forbs, and sagebrush in gaps, previously burned areas, and areas treated for invasive plants. Herbicide will be applied to control and reduce the cover of invasive plants in strategically selected locations where they pose the greatest threat to high-quality sagebrush habitat. Funds also will be used to grow and outplant Umtanum Desert buckwheat plants in the monument. 

Expected outcome:

Project partners:

10. Sagebrush Steppe Growth, Restoration and Monitoring on Hanford Reach National Monument

Awarded $185,000 in 2024

While sagebrush steppe habitats on the national monument are protected, more than 60% of the sagebrush steppe habitat in Washington has been lost to agriculture, roads, and other development. Thus, there is a great need to maintain and expand the remaining quality sagebrush steppe habitats on the monument.    

Restoration will be done in the priority area by seeding and planting mixes of native grasses, forbs, and sagebrush in gaps, in previously burned areas and in areas treated for invasive weeds. This project will restore up to 200 acres of quality sagebrush, reduce invasive annual grasses on up to 300 acres, and reduce fuel loads on up to 600 acres.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

11. Beaver-Powered Restoration in Rock Island Creek Watershed, Phase 3

Awarded $51,874 in 2024

Rock Island Creek in Douglas County flows through the land of multiple private landowners with cattle operations as well as public ownership by Washington Department of Natural Resources and Bureau of Land Management. Current private landowners are interested in improving habitat conditions and land management practices.   

This project will install 70-80 beaver dam analogs in the upper Rock Island Creek watershed, including in the main creek and its tributaries.

Expected Outcome:

Project Partners:

People & Partnerships

Sage BIL projects are being implemented by a group of experienced partners with a history of working to conserve sagebrush steppe habitat in the western United States. Below are a few of our partners we've worked with to accomplish Sage BIL priorities.

Organization that have partnered to accomplish Sage BIL priorities

Conclusion

The work to protect and restore Washington's s sagebrush steppe is on going. The on-the-ground work funded by Sage BIL via the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is making a difference in restoring habitats across central Washington.

Other stories about Washington's sagebrush county

Credits

Image Credits: StoryMap cover image (USFWS); sagebrush photo (D. Husband/USFWS), ranching in the sagebrush (Chelan Douglas Land Trust); fragmentation infographic (D. Husband/USFWS); Columbia Basin Pygmy Rabbit (K. Veverka/USFWS (first two images from left); D. Husband/USFWS (image on right)); Umtanum desert buckwheat (K. Veverka/USFWS); White Bluffs bladderpod (T. McCracken/USFWS); Greater sage grouse map image (M. Schroeder and publication collaborators); Greater sage grouse image (G. Buckingham); Land Use Change - Working Lands for Wildlife Explorer; Wildfire and Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit Recovery Areas - Pearl Hill Fire slider (J. Gallie/WDFW (left image); K. Veverka/USFWS (right image))

Geospatial Credits: Land Ownership image (Washington Department of Natural Resources ( DNR lands ,  nonDNR  lands),  The Nature Conservancy );  Agriculture in Washington  Map; Wildfires in Washington from 1977 through 2022 Image ( Washington Department of Natural Resources ); Wildfire and Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit Recovery Areas Image ( Washington Department of Natural Resources ; USFWS); Bipartisan Infrastructure Law - Sagebrush Conservation Map ( USGS/USFWS Sagebrush Conservation Design ); Active Sage BIL Projects Map (USFWS;  The Nature Conservancy )

Contributors: USFWS - D. Husband, K. Veverka, E. Orling, T. Callaway, S. James, S. Covington, J. Ory, V. Finn

A typical view of Washington's sagebrush county featuring sagebrush of different ages and heights. (Credit: D. Husband/USFWS)

The Columbia Basin (outlined in black) is within the eastern portion of Washington state. (Credit: ESRI)

A ranch hand moving cattle within the sagebrush steppe in Washington (Credit: Chelan-Douglas Land Trust)

A definition and visual example of habitat fragmentation.

Crops in Washington State in 2022 (Credit:  Washington State Department of Agriculture )

The Umtanum Desert Buckwheat has the best view on the plateau. (Credit: R. Riggs/USFWS)

White Bluffs Bladderpod (T. McCracken/USFWS)

Male greater sage-grouse on a lek in Wyoming. (T. Koerner/USFWS)

Wildfires, pictured in red, in Washington from 1972 through 2022 largely occur within the Columbia Basin, outlined in black. (Credit: Washington Department of Natural Resources)

Wildfires, in red, have burned significant areas within Columbia Basin pygmy rabbit recovery areas, in pink.

Moses Coulee Preserve before and after the Pearl Hill Fire. Left: before (2018, J Gallie/WDFW) Right: after (2020, K. Veverka/USFWS)

Organization that have partnered to accomplish Sage BIL priorities

The Preserve before the Pearl Hill Fire in 2020.

Right after the fire burned the Preserve.

1 year into project implementation

Stream head cuts like this can create further erosion downstream.