Wyoming Game and Fish Department's video: Chain Lakes Sagebrush

Subscribe: http://bit.ly/2jwNfv0 Watch more wildlife videos: http://bit.ly/3aJHpRI It’s a common and largely unnoticed part of Wyoming’s landscape—but it also plays a critical role for wildlife. In late October, the Wyoming Game and Fish along with employees of Williams planted approximately 1500 sagebrush seedlings on the Chain Lakes Wildlife Habitat Management Area in the Great Divide Basin north of Wamsutter. This WHMA is jointly managed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Bureau of Land Management to benefit wildlife and provide public access for hunting. Oil and gas development also occurs here, and this former well pad was ripe to be reclaimed, with the help of Williams employees who donated supplies to assist in the project. The seedlings were raised at the Wyoming Honor Farm in Riverton. Williams employees provided the help—a big help actually, when you need to dig 1500 holes—and planted the seedlings and placed a protective wire mesh around them to discourage browsing by big game and other animals. The Chain Lakes WHMA is a harsh, dry landscape with extreme temperatures and windy conditions, so a healthy splash of water provided a good start to each seedling to increase chances of survival. In many areas of Wyoming, sagebrush plants are old and decadent and reestablishing big sagebrush either after a wildfire or other disturbance is critical to help in vegetation recovery. Sagebrush creates conditions for other native plants like grass to grow, which in turn feed wildlife species like pronghorn, sage grouse and multiple bird species. It provides habitat for various invertebrates that are food sources for reptiles and small mammals like jackrabbits. Sage Grouse in particular depend heavily on the shrub; it provides not only food but cover for the birds at various stages of their lives. These plants won’t grow to full size for some time-in some regions sagebrush takes years to grow back. But if there was ever a shrub suited to handle Wyoming’s harsh climate and bring a landscape back to it’s old self…here’s your winner.