Grouse vanishing as tide ebbs on ‘sagebrush sea’

[Ithaca 37]

The sagebrush of the American West is finally commanding respect.
Long derided, degraded, dug up and burned, the fate of the native plant that once spread across 155 million acres has prompted a stepped-up conservation effort from Owyhee County to the Bush administration.

Twenty-one environmental groups filed a petition in December calling to list sage grouse as an endangered species. That action has accelerated efforts to preserve sagebrush ecosystems on which the birds depend across 11 Western states and Canada.

http://www.idahostatesman.com/Story.asp?ID=60595

This has been developing for a long time, what's the best thing to do?

 

[1_pointer]

I don't think they'll be listed, unless they find some more 'sub-species' like the Gunnison's on the UT/CO border. Many groups are already working to better the situation and they range from DWR, ranchers, to environmentalists, and fed. agencies, which are all at the same table. I think the petitions were good for getting people to do something.

FWIW, there will have to be alot of sagebrush "dug up and burned" if we are to make much headway for sage grouse.

 

[JoseCuervo]

The Welfare Ranchers in Owyhee County can't wait until the last Sage Grouse is extinct. Then they will have one less reason for the Federal Employees to check up on their grazing leases.

They get bummed every time they get caught cutting down Junipers at the Springs up on the Public Land, and if you don't have people looking for birds, you have less chance getting caught.

My guess is that the Sage Grouse getting listed is not so much to save the bird, but to save the entire Sagebrush Sea.

 

[1_pointer]

The problem with the sagebrush, is that in many areas there's too much of it and not enough grass/forbs.

'Gunner- Those ranchers may have another to worry about! Seems there's two Range Management Specialist positions open in the area.... They better get all of them, because if not USFWS will be the one controlling their grazing and I'm sure they won't like that too much. Cutting junipers may be a good thing as they've been encroaching on shrub and grass lands since the end of the 'Little Ice Age'. They like it hot and dry.