Report lists concerns for sage grouse future

RENO, Nev. — Sage grouse populations across the West appear to be stabilizing overall, but the once-abundant game bird under consideration for federal protection still faces serious threats to its survival, a new report says.

The report published by a coalition of state wildlife agencies is the first comprehensive, range-wide analysis of the bird’s status across 770,000 square miles of 11 Western states.

It examines a multitude of natural and human forces that affect sage grouse populations, ranging from urban sprawl and highway traffic to livestock fencing, communication towers and drilling for oil and gas.

Although a decades-long freefall in the bird’s numbers has slowed in recent years, “we are not optimistic about the future of sage grouse because of long-term population declines coupled with continued loss and degradation of habitat and other factors, including West Nile virus,” the authors wrote in a copy of the study obtained Wednesday by The Associated Press.

The assessment, a year in the making, comes as the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service considers whether the bird that once flourished in Western states and Canada is in need of protection under the Endangered Species Act — a move that could have sweeping ramifications for local planning decisions, federal public land management and national energy policies.

“Short term, it’s been pretty stable,” San Stiver, a retired biologist with the Nevada Department of Wildlife and one of four lead authors of the report, told the AP. “The short-term and long-term trajectory of the habitat is worrisome though.

“If sagebrush disappears, sage grouse are gone,” said Stiver, who has studied sage grouse for decades.

Experts believe as many as 2 million sage grouse inhabited much of the West when explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark first noted the birds in 1805. Although some have estimated current numbers have fallen to between 140,000 and 250,000 over the 11 states, the report suggests the overall number is probably higher.

On the positive side, the report said six of the 11 states and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan have completed plans to try to protect sage grouse, while five other states are still working on theirs.

The states’ efforts began in the 1990s as a response to the threat of a potential listing and have resulted in the formation of dozens of local working groups charged with developing local conservation plans.

Terry Crawforth, director of the Nevada Department of Wildlife, said the report shows there’s still time to save the grouse.

“Certainly there’s a lot of concerns. A lot of habitat has been lost,” he said. “But it’s far from being an emergency situation.”

Stiver agreed, saying the report’s findings indicate “right now is absolutely the best time to do something about it.”

The Fish and Wildlife Service determined in April there is sufficient biological evidence to warrant closer study of whether the bird should be listed. A final determination on petitions filed by various conservation groups is expected by the end of the year.

The report said the building of roads, reservoirs and developments and the clearing of large swaths of land for agriculture reduces and fragments sage grouse habitat. Traffic noise disrupts mating and nesting habits.

Human activity also invites invasive weeds that further degrade the habitat and make it vulnerable to intense wildland fires.

Fencing for livestock, power lines and communication towers also pose a risk to the birds by providing perches where predatory raptors can scan for prey. The report noted in recent years nearly 10,000 new communication towers have been built.