Sage Grouse at Risk
Dwindling Populations Jeopardized by Habitat Destruction

"Looking up from the tent at the edge of the bluff above us, we could see projecting over it the heads of hundreds of the birds, and, as those standing there took flight, others stepped forward to occupy their places.  The number of Grouse which flew over the camp reminded me of the old-time flights of Passenger Pigeons that I used to see when I was a boy.  Before long, the narrow valley where the water was, was a moving mass of gray.  I have no means whatever of estimating the number of birds which I saw, but there must have been thousands of them."
—Dr. George Bird Grinnell, Wyoming, October 1886

The "moving mass" of grouse that Dr. Grinnell saw 113 years ago were sage grouse. While none of us expects to see sage grouse in such great numbers today, few of us want the birds to face the same fate as the passenger pigeon. Unfortunately, that may be the case.

Sage grouse numbers and range began their decline shortly after Dr. Grinnell watched thousands of them fly over his Wyoming camp. Once found in 16 states and three Canadian provinces, they are now gone from five states (Arizona, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma) and British Columbia and almost gone in Alberta and Saskatchewan. Sage grouse are declining in Nevada, barely hanging on in four states (North and South Dakota, Washington and California) and marginal in Colorado and Utah. In Idaho, sage grouse numbers are at record lows. The largest remaining sage grouse populations are found in Montana, Oregon and Wyoming.

Biologists conservatively estimate that at least half of the original area occupied by sage grouse can no longer support the birds. While this decline has been a long-term trend, it has accelerated since the 1980s. Renowned sage grouse expert Clait Braun estimates that grouse populations have decreased at least 30 percent since 1985. Although we still have more than 20,000 grouse in Wyoming, our numbers are declining as well. Today, there are no stable — let alone increasing — populations of sage grouse anywhere in their range.

Dwindling Habitat

What’s wrong? Why are we losing the sage grouse? The culprit is habitat destruction. As its name implies, the grouse’s habitat is sagebrush. Sage grouse can only exist in the expansive sagebrush landscapes of the western United States and Canada. This large, flamboyant bird is perfectly adapted to eating sage, living in sage, raising chicks in the shadow of sagebrushes and surviving the winters in the exposed sagebrush steppes.

As with so many of our declining wildlife species, dwindling sage grouse populations warn us that the entire sagebrush ecosystem, and all the species that depend on it, is in trouble. Sage grouse are suffering from an inter-related and overlapping triple threat: habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and habitat degradation.

Habitat is lost from plowing, irrigating and planting crops, mining and oil and gas development, residential development, roads, highways and reservoirs. Habitat is fragmented by the destruction of sagebrush (through herbicides, burning or clearing), fences (particularly those made of woven wire) and power lines and fence posts that provide perches for raptors, which prey on grouse, prompting them to abandon these areas. Habitat is degraded by repeated livestock grazing, herbicide use, fire and invasions of exotic plant species, especially introduced annual grasses. While predators are often blamed for declining sage grouse populations, they do not make a difference until habitat loss has already reduced bird numbers and weakened those that remain, making them more vulnerable to predation.

Surviving on Sagebrush

What can we do to protect the sage grouse? Clearly, we must protect the sagebrush ecosystem that the birds depend on for their survival. Sage grouse need vast expanses of sagebrush with a healthy understory of native grasses and forbs (leafy plants). Chicks need protein-rich insects for their first few weeks of life, and then they need a combination of insects and forbs. Adults eat grasses, insects and forbs, and in the winter they survive on sagebrush alone.

Females need nest sites that are hidden from predators, usually tucked under sagebrush. The sagebrush needs to be big enough to hide under but not so big that it crowds out the understory of grasses and forbs.

To breed, the grouse gather at "leks," open spaces in the sage where males perform spectacular breeding displays for prospective mates. While much of sage grouse conservation has focused on these leks and the circles around them that supposedly harbor nesting grounds, biologists are finding that conservation strategies need to be more flexible, based more on actual studies of where the best nesting, feeding and loafing habitat is found.

Development Threats

The biggest threat to the grouse may be from the continually expanding natural gas and mineral development in our basins. For example, sage grouse habitat in the Green River Basin’s Jonah II gas field is the most productive in the state. Yet, according to the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, total male sage grouse attendance at leks in the Pinedale/Jackson area has declined by approximately 50% and "the average number of males per lek… has decreased from 61 males in 1958 to 15 males per lek in 1996."
The continued development, expansion and infilling of gas fields, with their well sites and roads, fragments and destroys sage grouse habitat. Well structures provide perches for preying raptors and the constant human activity disrupts the bird’s behavior.

BLM Action Needed

In Wyoming, with our vast sagebrush landscapes, we may still have the opportunity to protect and improve sage grouse habitat. Because the Bureau of Land Management manages the bulk of sagebrush habitat in Wyoming, the future survival of sage grouse may well lie in the agency’s hands. If the tide does not turn soon, it is inevitable that the sage grouse will be a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act.

The BLM should take a hard look at how its overall management practices affect the grouse, and determine how human activities can be conducted in a manner that protects sage grouse and safeguards their future. Some grazing practices may need to be modified to conserve grasses and forbs when the grouse need them most. Prescribed burns, herbicides and other sagebrush-control methods should be closely scrutinized for their impacts on grouse.

For those of you who have never braved a late winter dawn to watch (from a suitable distance so you don’t disturb the birds!) sage grouse strutting as the sun rises—do it soon. Much like Dr. Grinnell’s tale of endless numbers of sage grouse filling the skies, your story about this experience may be one you tell your grandchildren about how the West used to be.