Loss of sage grouse raises concerns

Friday, April 16, 2004 | 8:57 a.m.

Federal wildlife officials said Thursday there was enough evidence to support a yearlong study to determine if the sage grouse living in 11 Western states, including Nevada, needs to be listed as an endangered species.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service officials announced the extended study based on a 90-day review after three petitions were filed over the past two years from an individual and various groups who claim the large birds living in sagebrush are going extinct.

The birds are not found in Clark County because of its desert climate, but they have been sighted in 16 other Nevada counties, including Clark's neighboring counties, Nye and Lincoln. Sage grouse depend almost entirely on sagebrush for food and protection from predators.

Pat Diebert, a wildlife service biologist in Cheyenne, Wyo., said some research suggests sage grouse populations have been declining for more than 100 years, as the West was settled. The birds may have declined as much as 86 percent, Diebert said.

Experts estimated that as many as two million sage grouse inhabited the Western United States and Canada when Lewis and Clark first observed the birds in 1805. Their numbers are now estimated at 140,000 to 250,000 over 11 western states.

Scientists blame the decline of the birds to loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat, including drought, fire and human intrusion.

Other threats to the bird include predators, Diebert said.

A federal listing could result in restricted land use and other regulations that would restrict activities. Some fear such restrictions could harm local rural economies.

The findings from the 90-day study mean the wildlife service will seek more research and study actions already being taken to protect the bird before a final ruling under the Endangered Species Act is issued next year, Mary Henry, assistant regional director of ecological services for the service, said.

Nevada is among the states trying to avoid restrictions under an endangered listing and is working on plans to protect the bird, Kirsten Cannon of the Bureau of Land Management said. About half the sage grouse habitat covers Bureau of Land Management lands.

The American Lands Alliance, a conservation group based in Washington, D.C., wrote one of the petitions for protecting the sage grouse.