Decline of sage grouse raises alarm

Thursday, Sept. 16, 1999 | 10:23 a.m.

Nevada and Lincoln County officials are taking the lead to prevent the sage grouse from becoming a threatened or endangered species, while environmentalists call the bird the "spotted owl of the desert."

The grouse lives in sagebrush from Lincoln County, north of Clark County, throughout Nevada. The grouse population has been declining in the West, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is considering listing the birds under the Endangered Species Act.

But the declaration could impact land-use practices on public lands, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service field supervisor Al Pfister said Wednesday from Reno. Recreational hunting, mining, oil and gas exploration, off-road vehicle use and almost every other use of the public lands could be affected.

The American Lands Alliance is preparing to ask the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the grouse, alliance grasslands advocate Mark Salvo of Portland, Ore., said on Wednesday.

"It will envelop not just the rest of Oregon, but a large part of the West," Salvo said, an impact larger than spotted owls or desert tortoises.

Unlike the spotted owl and the Mojave Desert tortoise -- both listed as endangered and threatened, respectively -- the grouse is hunted, Fish and Wildlife Service supervisor Janet Bair of Las Vegas said.

"The listing could be a big deal," Bair said. "You could call it the desert tortoise of the north."

At one time the sage grouse, nearly the size of turkeys, were found in every Western state. They are gone from Kansas, Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Nebraska and British Columbia.

To attempt to thwart the listing, the Nevada Division of Wildlife teamed up with Lincoln County residents this summer to begin counting and observing the grouse.

Lincoln County is unique because it is one of the most southerly areas in the United States where the large birds are found, Division of Wildlife biologist Kraig Beckstrand said. The other southern habitat is in Utah.

Lincoln County has banned hunting grouse this fall.

"Oldtimers here in Lincoln County remember the days when there were huge flocks of sage grouse," Beckstrand said. "I have heard them tell of seeing waves of birds in Spring Valley and other areas."

Researchers have no clear understanding of what has caused the decline in grouse. Past land-use practices, hunting, predators, encroaching juniper trees and modified habitats are some of the suspects.

Nevada biologists have noticed several areas where the birds perform their courtship ritual called strutting, Beckstrand said. What isn't known is where the birds spend their winters.

This summer, biologists have placed radio collars on three hens caught and released in Cave Valley and another three from Spring Valley. The public has also been invited to help.

Ranchers, hunters, developers and the public are being invited to help the Division of Wildlife draw up a conservation plan for the grouse.

Nevada is working with the other Western states and Canada to help save the grouse.