US Fish & Wildlife Service has proposed the listing of the Gunnison Sage Grouse
(Centrocercus minimus) as Endangered under the Endangered Species Act on January 15th. As much as 1.7 million acres of western grass lands could be designated its critical habitat. Conservationists first proposed listing the iconic bird in 2000. It is one of the most endangered birds in North America due to habitat loss; over 90% of its habitat has been lost. Grasslands and deserts are the most degraded habitats in the nation according to a 2009 Department of Interior status report. In 2010 the Service determined that listing the grouse was warranted but precluded by higher priority actions. Some critics believed the agency backed down from listing it then because of opposition from western agricultural and business interests. The Service entered into an agreement with conservationists to schedule a final decision on listing by October 2013. The proposal fulfills that agreement.
The Gunnison sage grouse is recognized as separate species from the Greater sage grouse since 2000. Its historic range included the brush and desert lands of Colorado, Utah, New Mexico and Arizona. Now it is restricted to eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Only about 4000 breeding pairs remain. Protection for the bird will also aid elk, deer and antelope as they struggle to survive increasingly fragmented ranges contaminated with pollutants and invasive plant species. The human population of Gunnison County, Colorado, home to more than 80% of Gunnison sage-grouse is predicted to more than double by 2050. Cattle grazing is a major source of habitat degredation. Outright trampling of nests by cattle has been documented and the presence of livestock usually causes sage grouse to abandon their leks, or breeding grounds.
