Our Mission and History

The mission of the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund is: “Working to protect and restore sagebrush habitat in the American West to benefit native wildlife through voluntary conservation.” Founded in July, 2010, the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund resulted from an innovative agreement between an energy company, Ruby Pipeline (Ruby), and an environmental non-profit organization, Western Watersheds Project (WWP), over the construction of a 680 mile buried natural gas pipeline, stretching from Western Wyoming to Eastern Oregon. Much of the pipeline crossed sagebrush habitat important for wildlife such as sage grouse and pronghorn antelope. Rather than battle in court over the project, the two parties agreed to allow the pipeline to proceed, with the condition that a separate, non-profit organization-- the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund--would be created, and funded with $15 million over 10 years to protect and restore sagebrush habitat to benefit native wildlife through voluntary, free market conservation measures. Ruby and WWP each has the right to appoint one representative to the board of directors, with those directors then agreeing to appoint a third, independent director. Additionally, Ruby and WWP agreed that the Sagebrush Fund’s first priority would the retirement of federal grazing permits in the geographic area of the Ruby Pipeline route; however, the Sagebrush Fund may also use a variety of other voluntary conservation methods, such as property acquisitions, property leases, conservation easements, or restoration projects such as replanting native grasses, flowers and shrubs. 2011 marked the Sagebrush Fund’s first full year of operations, with an eventful and successful year demonstrating the value of a voluntary approach to conservation!

Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund, Inc. P.O. Box 1478

McCall, Idaho 83638 (208) 634-9946

inquiry@sagebrushfund.org www.sagebrushfund.org

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2011 Annual Report

After a full year of operations, the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund has a lot to celebrate! We were received a lot of interest in our voluntary, free market approach to conservation, and reviewed a number of potential projects.

In August, 2011, we began our first major

conservation project, known as the Vya Ranch, located in Northwestern Nevada, near Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. This landscape scale project involves working with federal and state agencies, a long time rancher, and other conservationists to protect and enhance key habitat for sage grouse and pronghorn antelope.

We celebrate and thank our supporters who helped us get underway in this inaugural year. Thanks to a

generous grant of $10,000 from the Lazar Foundation in April, 2011, we engaged in outreach to inform interested agency personnel, ranchers, legislators, conservationists, educators and others about our innovative organization melding conservation with free market business principles.

Thanks to another generous grant of $25,000 from U.S. Fish and Wildlife

Services’ Partners in Wildlife Program in September, 2011, management and restoration plans for our conservation property, the Vya Ranch, are underway.

Also, thanks to Colorado Interstate Gas for its generous donation in

December, 2011 of a 2006 Ford Explorer for the Fund’s work around the West, which often requires driving long distances on rough roads.

Another component in our success is our Advisory Panel, which includes many distinguished experts, with expertise in grazing permit buyouts, soils and geology, land protection methods, water quality, and non-profit management. We’re incredibly thankful that such an accomplished group is willing to donate their valuable time and extensive knowledge to our conservation work.

Also, we thank our hardworking volunteers, including Mary Kay Netolick

for helping with administrative tasks, Dale Grooms for his graphics and computer support, and Don Clarke, who assisted with our field work (see Volunteer Spotlight p. 7).

Finally, thanks go to our dedicated Board of Directors, especially past

independent director Patricia M. Olsson. Our directors devoted a lot of their precious time and resources working on voluntary solutions to pressing conservation issues in the sage-steppe ecosystem by reviewing potential projects and getting the Sagebrush Fund up and running for its successful inaugural year!

Executive Director’s Report By Debra K. Ellers Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund Celebrates a Successful First Year!

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2011 Annual Report

The primary source of income was corporate contributions from Ruby Pipeline under the agreement establishing the Sagebrush Fund.

The Sagebrush Fund spent $1,550,939 in acquisition and operating costs associated with the Vya Ranch in 2011.

Current assets include a checking and trust account held at U.S. Bank, N.A., and an endowment fund managed by the Dalton Wealth Management Group at UBS Financial Services.

Fixed and other assets consist of the real property, water rights and equipment which the Fund owns at the Vya Ranch, and the Fund’s donated business vehicle, a 2006 Ford Explorer. Liabilities are from the Sagebrush Fund’s obligation to pay an additional $900,000 on the Vya Ranch acquisition in 2012. The Sagebrush Fund’s goal is to manage and

operate its finances efficiently and professionally, by employing one paid staff member, utilizing generous volunteer contributions of time and resources where appropriate, and outsourcing various functions to capable third parties, such as bookkeeping and web administration.

Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund 2011 Financial Report

2011 Expenditures $1,653,527 Programs $1,618,647

Fundraising $5,129

Management/Administrative $29,751

2011 Income $2,829,341 Corporate Contributions $2,805,380

Grants/Donations $20,525

Interest/Dividends $3,435

Assets $4,053,029 Liabilities $896,942

Current Assets $1,631,806 Fixed and Other Assets $2,410,698 Liabƛlities $896,942

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2011 Annual Report

In August, 2011, the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund began an innovative, large- scale conservation project in Northwestern Nevada to benefit sage grouse, pronghorn antelope and other native wildlife dependent on healthy sagebrush. This project involves the Fund’s acquisition of 9,980 acres of private

lands, and two BLM grazing permits covering approximately 50,000 acres of public lands, and working in collaboration with a long time rancher, Mr. Patrick D. Fitzgerald.

This remote corner of Northwestern Nevada

has key sage grouse and pronghorn antelope habitat, near federally owned and protected areas including Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge and the Massacre Rim Wilderness Study Area. The Vya Ranch and associated BLM allotments provide important low elevation corridors and winter habitat between the Sheldon Refuge in Northwestern Nevada and the Warner Mountains in Northeastern California.

The varied landscape includes critical water

sources, hills, flat open areas containing several sage grouse leks (mating grounds), cliffs, and dried lake beds, known as playas. Native plants with

high value for wildlife are present, such as perennial bunchgrasses, including bluebunch wheatgrass and Great Basin Rye, forbs (wildflowers) including phlox, larkspur and flax, shrubs including several varieties of sagebrush, bitterbrush, snowberry and wild rose, and rare remnant aspen groves.

View from rim over Vya Ranch.

Rare lower-elevation aspen grove overlooking seasonal lake bed.

The Vya Ranch: An Innovative Approach to Enhancing Sagebrush Habitat for Native Wildlife

Vya Ranch

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Nevada

Current conservation plans call for Rancher Fitzgerald to lease portions

of the property for cattle-grazing under best management grazing practices for wildlife, while other areas will be focused primarily on conservation and restoration for wildlife. The Sagebrush Fund has received a generous $25,000 Partners in Wildlife grant from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for restoring wildlife habitat on private lands. Restoration is expected to include removal or marking of fences that are hazardous to wildlife, planting native seeds, and rehabilitating springs.

2012 planned projects for the Vya Ranch include developing conservation and management plans for the private lands and associated grazing allotment, hosting an educational course sponsored by Truman State University in Missouri for biology students to survey small mammals, insects and plants at selected monitoring sites, and coordinating volunteer crews to gather and plant native plant seeds.

Dr. Stephanie Fore, Biology Professor, (pictured above) plans her student research project on the Vya Ranch--slated to begin May, 2012.

Sagebrush on Vya Ranch—the foundation for wildlife habitat and restoration.

High elevation spring and meadow areas on the Vya Ranch are planned for restoration.

Exciting 2012 projects are planned for the Vya Ranch

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. Home on the Range

The Vya Ranch is home to many native plants and animals, including the sage grouse and pronghorn antelope shown in the pictures below.

Sage grouse, called a

“keystone species” need diverse, healthy sagebrush habitat with tall grasses, shrubs and water sources.

Big expanses of sagebrush mean healthy populations of sage grouse.

Plentiful pronghorn antelope roam on the the Vya Ranch’s BLM allotment. 6

2011 Annual Report

Don Clarke is a sedimentation geologist. Retired from a long and distinguished career with the Natural Resources Conservation Service, Don now puts his

considerable skills and knowledge to use on behalf of conservation non-profits.

The Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund is fortunate to have Don as part of its accomplished Advisory Panel. Don provides both advice and field work on a variety of ecological issues, such as soil type and health and associated plant communities. In October, 2011, Don conducted a field assessment reviewing soils and plants at the Vya Ranch, enduring several fall days of rain, cold and wind in good humor. Don’s findings (some of which are below) will be valuable as conservation and management plans are developed for the Vya Ranch’s future. In May, 2012, Don also plans to help guide a student group who will

conduct surveys of plants, animals and soils at several selected monitoring sites at the Vya Ranch. Don is often accompanied in his field work by his dedicated assistant and spouse, Joyce Clarke. Don and Joyce make their home near McCall, Idaho when not travelling around the sagebrush steppe ecosystem of the West. Thank you Don for your service and dedication to ecological science!

Vya Ranch--Good cover and not heavily grazed on plateau. (Photo © Don Clarke).

Typical Basin and Range landscape viewed from Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge across BLM Allotment (beyond midground hills). Note playa (foreground) and fault scarp (distant line of hills closer to camera than snow covered Walker Range). (Photo © Don Clarke)

Volunteer Spotlight: Don Clarke

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2011 Annual Report

Sage-steppe ecosystems are among the most imperiled, with threats

including fragmentation from agriculture and development, and disturbance from invasive weeds, fire, improperly-managed livestock grazing, and off road vehicles.

The Greater Sage Grouse is a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act, which if listed, is expected to have significant ramifications for land management in years to come.

Above: Nesting sage grouse on the Vya Ranch. (©Dr. Stephanie Fore)

Voluntary conservation solutions, such as those the Sagebrush Fund uses, will be increasingly important as we seek to restore sagebrush ecosystems, though such measures as acquiring grazing permits from willing sellers, which can enhance native plants and water sources, create corridors for connectivity, and protect large landscapes for native wildlife to flourish. Vya Ranch is intended as a demonstration project to show how a free market conservation approach can benefit wildlife and the local community. Projects planned for 2012 include a student research group to conduct monitoring, revegetation using native seeds, and removal of artificial water developments and hazardous fencing. Some areas slated for projects are shown below.

Left: Spring Restoration Right: Land Restoration Below: Fence Removal

The Path Ahead for 2012 and Beyond.

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Most of the Vya Ranch's BLMallotment is being rested from live-stock grazing in 2012 to benefit habitatfor native wildlife including sage-grouseand pronghorn.

2011 Annual Report

Debra K. Ellers, Executive Director. Debra began working as the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund’s Executive Director in January, 2011. A resident of Idaho and practicing attorney since 1985, Debra’s legal practice included litigation and business work on commercial and property matters. Debra is an active member of the Idaho State Bar, and its section on Real Property Law. Debra received her law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law, and has a B.A. in Economics with High Honors from the University of Tennessee.

Debra has experience with a number of non-profit organizations, and has led over 20 volunteer work projects, including native plants restoration and fence removal, in many areas around the West, such as Steens Mountain Wilderness, Hart Mountain Antelope Refuge, and Hells Canyon National Recreation Area. She lives near McCall, Idaho, and enjoys backpacking, cross-country skiing and mountain biking with her spouse and dog.

James J. Cleary, President and Treasurer

James J. Cleary is president of El Paso’s Western Pipeline Group. Prior to assuming his current role in 2004, Mr. Cleary served for three years as president of ANR Pipeline Company, which served markets in the midwestern U.S. Mr. Cleary was formerly executive vice president of Southern Natural Gas Company and was responsible for Customer Service, Rates, and Operations Services. Mr. Cleary served Southern Natural Gas and its affiliated companies in many capacities since assuming his initial position as an attorney with the company in 1979. He earned a Bachelor of

Arts degree from the College of William and Mary and a law degree from Boston College Law School.

Mr. Cleary was appointed to the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund’s Board of Directors as the Ruby Representative in July, 2010.

Jon Marvel, Vice-President Jon Marvel is the executive director of Western Watersheds Project (WWP), a conservation group headquartered in Hailey, Idaho with three offices in Idaho and other offices in California, Arizona, Montana and Wyoming. Originally from Delaware, Mr. Marvel has a BA in American History from the University of Chicago and a MArch from the University of Oregon. He is a licensed architect and practiced for more than 30 years in Idaho. Jon

has lived in Idaho for 42 years and in Hailey, Idaho since 1981. He has been active in local and state politics in Idaho, having served as Democratic Party Chair in Blaine County and as a member of the Idaho State Democratic Party Central and Executive Committees. He has been married for 41 years and has two grown children and one grandchild. Mr. Marvel was appointed to the Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund’s board as the WWP Representative in September 2011.

Staff Board of Directors

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Don Clarke is a retired Sedimentation Geologist who held numerous positions of responsibility with the U.S. Dept.of Agriculture, Soil Conservation Service (SCS). Mr. Clarke is a graduate of Berea College in Kentucky, where he received a B.S. in Geology.

Eric Younger has substantial experience in non -profit organization management. Mr. Younger is the Founder and Executive Director of the Foundation for Community Development and Empowerment.

Hank Fischer is Special Projects Coordinator for the National Wildlife Federation’s Northern Rockies Regional Center in Missoula, Montana. Mr. Fischer holds an M .S. in Environmental Studies from the University of Montana, where he studied wildlife biology and journalism.

John Leshy is The Harry D. Sunderland Distinguished Professor of Real Property Law at the University o f California Hastings School o f Law, where he teaches courses in real property, natural resources and Indian law.

Nancy Chase, operating through her firm Conservation Strategies, brings a wealth of experience from her years of working with government agencies and

land trust on the planning, acquisition and protection of natural areas and wildlife corridors.

J.R. DeShazo is the Director of the Luskin Center for Innovation at the University of California at Los Angeles. Dr. DeShazo is also an Associate Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Public Policy in the Luskin School of Public Affairs at UCLA, where he is an expert in economics, public finance, and organizational governance. He holds a Ph.D. in Urban Planning from Harvard University and a M.Sc. in Economics from Oxford University,

Advisory Panel

Voluntary conservation solutions, such as those the Sagebrush Fund uses, will be increasingly important as we seek to restore sagebrush ecosystems, though such measures as acquiring grazing permits from willing sellers, which can enhance native p lants and water sources, create corridors for connectivity, and p rotect l arge landscapes for native wildlife to flourish. The Sagebrush Fund’s initial funding from Ruby Pipeline is generous, but in light of the major funding co mmitment necessary to p rotect b ig expanses o f the iconic western sagebrush l andscapes, much more i s required! The Sagebrush Fund is a 501(c)(3) tax exempt public charity, with donations deductible to the fullest extent of the law (please consult a tax advisor for specific advice). Donations of cash, land, stock or other assets are needed and appreciated! Secure donations may be made through PayPal at http://sagebrushfund.org/support-us.html, or sent to the Fund’s address below. I f you would l ike to discuss including the Sagebrush Fund in your charitable or estate planning, please contact Executive Director Debra Ellers for more details.

Sagebrush Habitat Conservation Fund, Inc. P.O. Box 1478

McCall, Idaho 83638 (208) 634-9946

debra@sagebrushfund.org www.sagebrushfund.org

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All photos (c) Dale Grooms unless otherwise noted. Cover photo: Healthy sagebrush communities on the Vya Ranch provide homes for wildlife.