USDA steps up wildlife habitat protection

By Marc Heller | 10/21/2024 01:27 PM EDT

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack called for increased coordination on wildlife corridors across public and private lands.

A group of mule deer crosses a stream in spring 2020 on the Red Desert to Hoback Corridor in Wyoming.

A group of mule deer crosses a stream in spring 2020 on the Red Desert to Hoback Corridor in Wyoming. The USDA announced efforts to boost coordination on wildlife corridors under different types of ownership. Tanner Warder/Wyoming Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit/Flickr

The Department of Agriculture will boost wildlife habitat protection as the Biden administration enters its final months.

In a departmentwide memorandum, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Monday directed agencies to coordinate more closely on protecting lands across types of ownership, including making wildlife habitat a high priority in various conservation programs.

In the memorandum, Vilsack said many animals rely on “vast swaths of connected habitat,” which can be broken by development or disrupted by disease outbreaks, among other factors.

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Protecting those landscapes can coincide with agricultural production such as ranching, and it involves an array of USDA initiatives such as the Conservation Reserve Program, agency officials told reporters on a conference call Monday.

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