Video: Watch the Sage Grouse Strut!

Found across the western United States, the sage grouse population has declined by 90 percent over the past century. In Wyoming, the population has decreased an estimated 70 percent in just the last 50 years.

With the population falling this dramatically, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has acknowledged it needs protection. But this bird is no small matter. Listing the sage grouse as a threatened or endangered species has big implications, especially in Wyoming where energy development—from gas to wind—is big business.

So what can be done?  The Fund has worked on several projects that ensure the protection of sage grouse habitat in the Green River Valley of Wyoming. With our partners, we completed the largest conservation easement in the region on more than 2,000 acres of a family-owned working ranch—known as the MJ Ranch—southeast of Boulder. We also led a group of partners in the protection of  more than 1,000 acres of critical sage grouse habitat on Cottonwood Ranches, a working cattle ranch southwest of Daniel, Wyoming. The ranch land contains some of the highest quality sage grouse habitat in the Green River Valley—in a single visit more than 250 sage grouse were observed on the property.

The sage grouse is definitely an interesting looking bird and, like the prairie chicken, has an interesting way of attracting mates.

Watch the sage grouse strut!

Video and text (bottom) courtesy of Gail Patricelli, UC Davis

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