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Jan. 13, 2025 – As part of its comprehensive, multi-year greater sage-grouse conservation plan, Power Company of Wyoming LLC is successfully working with scientists to turn land that sage-grouse avoided into healthy habitat that sage-grouse can use.
That success is clearly showing in the annual vegetation monitoring conducted from 2022-2024 of PCW’s "Relic Field Enhancement Project." Monitoring revealed increased vegetation diversity and density, increased habitat health, and increased wildlife use compared to when the enhancement project first launched in 2021.
The project was developed thanks to site-specific data gathered through PCW’s sage-grouse monitoring program. It demonstrated that sage-grouse largely avoided fields that 1940s-era wheat farmers briefly used then abandoned, while adjacent never-farmed land was providing diverse habitat services for sage-grouse.
"Therefore we targeted 126 acres of these relic fields for reclamation to not only expand habitat but also fill in habitat gaps for this important species," said Kelly Cummins, PCW vice president of land and environment. "It’s a great opportunity to provide actual, on-the-ground mitigation in the vicinity of our wind development area. We’re proud of the positive enhancement project results observed to date and expect them to continue."
Over 25 different actions were designed and implemented to restore the typical sagebrush landscape on these portions of the Overland Trail Ranch, which lie outside of PCW’s wind project area. PCW and scientists from SWCA Environmental Consultants collaborated with the Overland Trail Ranch on weed treatment, forb and grass seeding, and sagebrush seeding while also installing water collection and irrigation systems to assure successful native vegetation establishment. All revegetation strategies were based on concepts of successional ecology to facilitate success.
The Relic Field Enhancement Project is just one element of PCW’s extensive commitments to avoid, minimize and mitigate potential environmental impacts of its wind power project, which is under construction south of and adjacent to Interstate 80 in Carbon County.
For example, PCW’s interim reclamation measures and best management practices being implemented on the Chokecherry and Sierra Madre Wind Energy Project include protecting topsoils, carefully monitoring reclamation timing based on soil temperatures and seasonal precipitation, using site-specific seed mixes to promote native plant communities, and applying erosion control measures. Monitoring shows that after five years, reclaimed areas exceed 80% of adjacent native cover and contain diverse native grass, forb and shrub communities.
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Data gathered from GPS tags on sage-grouse showed little to no use of relic ag fields outlined in black, located on portions of the Overland Trail Ranch outside of the wind development area. PCW’s Relic Field Enhancement Project is targeting these areas for habitat restoration.
Relic field conditions following initial reseeding and treatment in fall 2021.
Relic field conditions by fall 2024. This is the first step in recovering those ag fields from their degraded state to a condition that will support sagebrush communities.
Relic field conditions by fall 2024, with one of the new water tanks in the background.
An example of the control area that same year. This is what the site resembled before scientists performed the restoration seeding and weed control activities.
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