Sage Grouse Feel the Heat

More: Mentioned in the post about the Gunnison sage grouse below is he regime's proposal to dismantle the conservation plan for the Greater sage grouse. (Centrocercus urophasianus)  That proposal to roll back land use restrictions across 9 million acres of the bird's prime habitat has been blocked by a federal judge, who granted an injunction against the BLM substantially reducing protections for the sage hen. Until a court decides the legality of the regulatory amendments wanted by the regime, the previous restrictions remain in effect.  Those rules apply to approximately 51 million acres of federally owned grouse habitat in the West.

The grouse has lost 50% of its former range to oil and gas exploration, invasive grass species, and wildfires. Their population has plummeted to just 10% of  pre-settlement numbers.  It was only because conservationists, industry and ranchers agreed to compromise management plans for 10 states that the bird was not listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act. The Service called the agreement, "an unprecedented conservation partnership". Disregarding what was agreed to, the regime leased to oil companies ten times the high priority grouse habitat per month than the previous government.  One sale included acreage that was entirely within sage grouse habitat.

In granting the injunction, Judge Winmill wrote, “The record shows that the 2019 Plan Amendments were designed to open up more land to oil, gas, and mineral extraction as soon as possible. That was the expressed intent of the Trump Administration and then-Secretary Ryan Zinke."  If conservationists prevail in overturning the plans to reduce protections for the endangered bird, then leases granted under the modifications will be invalidated, and BLM forced to consider leasing outside sage grouse habitat.

(10.10.19}The Gunnison Valley is a beautiful, high-altitude basin in the Colorado Rockies surrounded by fourteen thousand foot peaks, and the home of the Gunnison sage grouse (Centrocercus minimus). The impact of global climate warming is all too obvious in the valley. Several years of drought have reduced the number of flowers produced by forbes such as sagebrush. The coldest winter in decades in 2018-19 lingered well into May, causing some hens to abandon their nests or lower their eggs' temperature beyond survival. Fewer flowers mean fewer insects and grouse chicks eat nothing else in their first few weeks of life.  Consequently, the number of hatchlings has plummeted.

Despite concerted conservation efforts, the bird's population is at the lowest level since 1996.  Habitat loss and climatic extremes has pushed the grouse closer to the edge of extinction in the wild.  Populations have decreased 60% in the last four years and are expected to get worse.  This species has fared slightly better in the western habitat wars than its larger relative.  The common sage grouse has served a sort of proxy for oil exploitation fights in the West. It was not listed as endangered in 2015 because of a compromise conservation plan that the current regime is dismantling.  The Gunnison grouse is listed as "threatened".  Some conservationists want an endangered listing since it would bring more federal scrutiny, but Colorado wildlife officials think the current mix of state and local protections are just as good.  Now, state officials do the population counts, relocations, and habitat improvement.  Local people are involved in planting sagebrush and removing invasive cheatgrass.

Like other birds who perform a dancing display at a lek, their behavior patterns are considered inflexible, and since it is confined to a small geographic area, it also has an extreme lack of genetic diversity.  These factors make the Gunnison grouse susceptible to a downward extinction spiral.