Long-range Planning: Considering the Shrub-steppe Landscape

The following is a condensed version of the long-range planning section found in WDFW's Management Recommendations for Washington's Priority Habitats: Shrub-Steppe.

Many requirements critical to shrub-steppe wildlife--large, unfragmented habitat patches; habitat connectivity--are impossible to manage on a site-by-site basis. Hence, many issues important to shrub-steppe wildlife must be handled at a landscape scale. Here we provide guidance for making decisions that affect shrub-steppe from the perspective of a long-range planner.

Information provided here will help with:

• identifying high priority areas of shrub-steppe across a large planning area.
• recognizing important features of shrub-steppe habitat.
• designating areas of shrub-steppe as part of a local plan.
• adopting planning policies, regulations, and incentives that consider impacts to shrub-steppe.