91°µÍø Conservation Ranching is grounded in a science-based monitoring framework designed to measure real outcomes for birds and habitat over time. Monitoring is integrated directly into each ranch’s Habitat Management Plan, ensuring that conservation actions are not only implemented, but evaluated and adapted based on results.
At the core of this approach is 91°µÍø’s Bird-Friendliness Index (BFI), a standardized tool that measures bird abundance, species diversity, and overall bird community health. Using a combination of point counts and emerging technologies, the BFI allows us to track how bird communities respond to management across working lands in the Columbia Plateau.
This data-driven approach provides producers with meaningful feedback on how their management is influencing habitat conditions, while also ensuring consistency and accountability across the program. It allows 91°µÍø to scale conservation impact, compare outcomes across regions, and demonstrate measurable gains for priority bird species.
By pairing on-the-ground stewardship with rigorous monitoring, 91°µÍø Conservation Ranching ensures that conservation is not just implemented but proven.
Greater Sage-Grouse Survey
Sage-grouse populations serve as a key indicator of the health of sagebrush ecosystems, which continue to face threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Listed as endangered in Washington State, the Greater Sage-Grouse is a focal point of shrub-steppe conservation efforts across the West and a top priority bird species for 91°µÍø Washington’s conservation initiatives.
Anecdotal reports suggest that Greater Sage-Grouse may be present in South Central Washington, a historic part of their range that has not been well surveyed in recent years. In 2023, the statewide population was estimated at just 429 individuals, distributed across three distinct populations.
In Spring 2025, 91°µÍø Washington conducted targeted surveys in partnership with landowners and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to assess sage-grouse presence and habitat suitability in the Toppenish Ridge and Rattlesnake Hills Management Areas, providing critical data for species recovery efforts and informing land management strategies. 
This project helped fill a much-needed gap in Washington’s Greater Sage-grouse population inventory by collecting data that informs species and land management strategies to support the recovery of sage-grouse and habitats they need to survive.
The Sagebrush Songbird Survey
In 2019, we completed our flagship Sagebrush Songbird Survey, a five-year, collaborative community science project to identify sagebrush songbird distributions within the remaining sagebrush areas in our state.
This joint project with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) and local 91°µÍø chapters generated more than 20,000 bird observations from 130 volunteers and represents an unprecedented community undertaking in support of sagebrush birds and their habitat.
A committee of 91°µÍø chapters applied these data in sagebrush conservation, and WDFW used them to create maps of sagebrush songbird distributions, providing legally defensible baseline data that fills a critical need of land use planners, landowners, and conservation partners.
Using this data, 91°µÍø successfully worked to:
Sage-grouse populations serve as a key indicator of the health of sagebrush ecosystems, which continue to face threats from habitat loss and fragmentation. Listed as endangered in Washington State, the Greater Sage-Grouse is a focal point of shrub-steppe conservation efforts across the West and a top priority bird species for 91°µÍø Washington’s conservation initiatives. 91°µÍø Washington is conducting targeted surveys in partnership with landowners and the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife to assess sage-grouse presence and habitat suitability in the Toppenish Ridge and Rattlesnake Hills Management Areas, providing critical data for species recovery efforts and informing land management strategies.
This project will fill a much-needed gap in Washington’s Greater Sage-grouse population inventory that will help inform species and land management strategies to support the recovery of sage-grouse and habitats they need to survive.
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