Enhancement of Degraded Shrub-Steppe Habitats with an Emphasis on Potential Applicability in Eastern Washington

There is considerable interest in restoring shrub-steppe habitats in Washington to enhance their suitability as sage-grouse habitat. The purpose of this technical note is to synthesize the experience of practitioners in Washington and nearby states, as well as draw upon published and unpublished literature, to provide recommendations and assistance to Bureau of Land Management (BLM) staff in developing more effective approaches for restoring shrub-steppe. This tech note focuses on the restoration of degraded, but still-extant, shrub-steppe habitats, particularly in areas with deeper soils, and how this can be accomplished in ways that are both ecologically effective and cost efficient. This tech note provides a seven-step framework for approaching shrub-steppe restoration, a state-and-transition model that describes seven shrub-steppe “starting states,” and four “restored states” that characterize many of the conditions for partial or complete restoration of shrub-steppe habitats. The transitions linking these starting and restored states describe the changes sites must undergo to be restored. Lastly, the tech note describes the process for restoring shrub-steppe following the steps of the framework and relates these steps to the state-and-transition model.