Matt Cahill is the Sagebrush Sea Program Director for the Nature Conservancy. Based out of Bend, Oregon, Matt leads all of TNC’s critical work restoring, managing, and protecting sagebrush habitat across six western states. This is a huge and complex effort– it combines protection and policy work with ground-breaking restoration advances, public and industry partnerships, and local community projects. But as you’ll hear in this conversation, Matt is optimistically leaning into the challenge and making great strides to protect this uniquely Western ecosystem.
To give you some context into the vastness of North America’s sagebrush ecosystem, it spans 150 million acres and is home to 350 rare, threatened, and endangered species. Since 1998, 14 million acres of sagebrush ecosystems have been lost, and currently, we’re losing approximately one million acres to invasive species, catastrophic wildfires, development, improper grazing, and climate change. 70% of the Sagebrush Sea is found on public lands, so efforts to protect, manage, and restore the ecosystem are dependent on creative, action-oriented public-private partnerships. Again, Matt is leading a huge and complex effort!
In this episode, we start our conversation by discussing why the Sagebrush Sea is important, and why even people who live far from the ecosystem should care about it. We discuss the history of the threats to sagebrush, and we also do a deep dive into the specific threat of cheatgrass– a true scourge on the landscapes of the West. We discuss the ecology of sagebrush, how TNC measures success when it comes to protecting such a fragile ecosystem, and the importance of partnering with ranchers. We talk about the efficacy of for-profit approaches to restoration, collaboration with government agencies, and specific cutting-edge approaches to restoration. Matt also explains his career trajectory that led him from the East Coast to becoming obsessed with sagebrush, and he offers several great book recommendations.
Be sure to check out the episode notes for links to everything we discuss, including a few videos and writings by Matt that will provide even more context into this nuanced issue. Thanks to Matt and his team for all of their hard work, and thank you for listening. Hope you enjoy.
Photos courtesy of The Nature Conservancy
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EPISODE PARTNER:
This episode is brought to you in partnership with the Colorado chapter of The Nature Conservancy. Guided by science and grounded by decades of collaborative partnerships, The Nature Conservancy has a long-standing legacy of achieving lasting results to create a world where nature and people thrive.
On the fourth Tuesday of every month throughout 2023, Mountain & Prairie will be delving into conversations with a wide range of The Nature Conservancy’s leaders, partners, collaborators, and stakeholders, highlighting the myriad of conservation challenges, opportunities, and solutions here in the American West. You can access all of the 2023 episodes here.
To learn more about The Nature Conservancy’s impactful work in Colorado and around the world, visit www.nature.org/colorado
RESOURCES:
Topics Discussed:
- 3:30 – Description of the Sagebrush Sea
- 7:45 – Why sagebrush matters
- 10:30 – The state of the Sagebrush Sea and how it got there
- 15:15 – Cheatgrass’s impact on the Sagebrush Sea
- 23:30 – TNC’s Sagebrush Sea program
- 26:45 – Exploring the restoration aspect of Matt’s work
- 33:15 – The restoration timeline for sagebrush regions
- 35:30 – Measuring restoration success
- 39:00 – The management portion of Matt’s work
- 41:30 – Matt’s success stories of collaborating with ranchers
- 46:00 – The land protection (acquisition, easement, etc.) portion of Matt’s work
- 49:15 – Evaluating the for-profit wing of conservation of sage grouse habitat
- 43:15 – Discussing TNC’s collaboration across its own programs as well as with government land managers
- 57:00 – How Matt ended up an expert in sagebrush biomes when he grew up on the East Coast
- 1:00:30 – Matt’s book recommendations
- 1:04:00 – Matt’s parting words of wisdom
Information Referenced:
- The Nature Conservancy
- The Sagebrush Sea program at The Nature Conservancy
- Innovative Restoration article about TNC’s Sagebrush Sea work
- Sagebrush Conservation Design
- Matt’s article about the “Defend the Core, Grow the Core” framework
- Sagebrush
- Salt playa
- Burns, OR
- Lander, WY
- Ponderosa pine
- Piñon pine
- Juniper
- Cheatgrass
- Medusahead
- Ventenata/wiregrass
- Cryptobiotic Crust
- Fescue
- Bluebunch Wheatgrass
- Pinedale, WY
- Carlos Fernadez
- Winecup Gamble Ranch
- Matador Ranch
- Red Canyon Ranch
- Taylor Hawes
- Bears Ears National Monument
- Matt Moorehead
- Sagebrush Ocean by Stephen Trimble
- Catch-22 by Joseph Heller
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- Franz Kafka
- Basin and Range by John McPhee
- Encounters with the Archdruid by John McPhee
Enjoy this episode? Then you might like these too:
- Carrie Segil & Duncan Gilchrist – Catalyzing Conservation in Colorado and Beyond
- Lorelei Cloud – Solving Modern-Day Challenges with Ancient Tribal Wisdom
- Rob Addington – A Deep Dive into Western Wildfires and Forest Health
- Chris Hawkins – Using Nature to Build Healthier & More Equitable Communities
- Matt Moorhead & Galen Guerrero-Murphy – Grasslands Conservation on the Southern High Plains
- Taylor Hawes – Innovative Conservation in the Colorado River Basin
- Dr. Katharine Hayhoe – Effecting Change Through Authentic Conversation
- Carlos Fernández, Part 2 – Creating Conservation Opportunities During Uncertain Times
Visit the podcast page for a full list of episodes where you can filter episodes by topic and guests’ vocations.
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