On February 9, 2018, at an event in Salt Lake City, Utah, the Secretary of the Interior signed Secretarial Order 3362, “Improving Habitat Quality in Western Big Game Winter Range and Migration Corridors”. The Order has attracted considerable attention and created momentum for management and conservation of migration corridors and winter range. As of May 2022, the Department of the Interior (Department) has entered Year 4 of implementation and our approach over the past two years has established the solid foundation necessary for successful future endeavors.

“Enhance and improve the quality of Rocky Mountain elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope winter range and migration corridor habitat.”

The Order is focused on species under the management authority of state fish and wildlife agencies, so it directs the appropriate bureaus within the Department to engage western states collaboratively and cooperatively. More directly, the Order recognizes state authority to manage big game species. The Department’s role in implementation stems from its management responsibility for millions of acres of land across the West, strong scientific and technical capabilities, and ability to bring forward other resources to help facilitate wildlife habitat conservation activities across multiple states. The Order is focused on conserving, enhancing, restoring, or improving the condition of priority big game winter range and migration corridor habitat. Ultimately, the habitat conservation activities resulting from the implementation of the Order will provide positive benefits to big game populations and numerous other wildlife species.

Casey Stemler, Former Coordinator for Secretarial Order 3362

Secretarial Order 3362 was signed in 2018 to emphasize the importance of conserving and improving elk, mule deer, and pronghorn antelope habitat. Each year, the BLM works cooperatively with state and Tribal governments, federal agencies, landowners, universities, conservation organizations, and others to improve millions of acres of fish, wildlife, and plant habitat degraded from wildland fire, drought, invasive weeds, and development on public lands. Much of this work directly benefits big game winter range and migration corridors.

HIGHLIGHTS

In the last five years, the BLM has:

• Removed or modified 1,250 miles of fencing to improve wildlife movement and migration,
• Improved 3 million acres of big game wildlife habitat, and
• Installed or maintained 1,150 water developments for use by big game animals and other wildlife.

Partnerships have made meaningful progress on the implementation of the Order in the first 4 years. For example, over 50 research projects are funded and well over 170 habitat projects. Numerous other habitat projects are funded through other sources (i.e. NRCS programs) in state defined priority seasonal habitat and migration corridors.

Exceptional cooperation and collaboration with the states continues. Read about some our past  accomplishments in the 2020 Progress Report (PDF, 6 MB).

HIGHLIGHTS

• Funding Surpassed $30 million. The Department of the Interior and partners provided funding to support state-identified priority research projects, data analysis and mapping assistance, and for habitat-related projects.
• SO 3362 Coordinator Hired by the US Fish & Wildlife Service in May 2018.
• State-specific Action Plans were developed for each of the 11 western states by October 2019.
• Bureau Liasions Established by the BLM, FWS, and NPS.