Date: 01/04/05
Contact: Kelly Clark
Phone: (775) 688-1555

Sage Grouse Decision Applauded by Guinn
By: Kelly Clark

The Secretary of the Interior announced today that the greater sage-grouse does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act.

Governor Kenny Guinn applauded the recommendation, citing the work of state fish and wildlife biologists and volunteers in 11 western states.

“Citizen conservationists have worked on this issue in Nevada for the past four years,” said Gov. Guinn. “They have identified where the bird lives, the risks to the species, and they have outlined the work we need to do to protect this beautiful bird and its sage brush habitat. These volunteers must be credited for providing a breadth of information on the species that was not available previously.”

Governor Guinn's Sage Grouse Team met over a two-year period beginning in 2001, and initiated a statewide planning effort with seven regional planning groups, including two bi-state groups in California and Nevada. More than 350 volunteer citizens met across the state in town halls or after hours at schools, to work together to identify the risks to the sage grouse and ways to mitigate those risks. Since 1999 Nevada's sage grouse volunteers have invested well over 9,300 hours of their time, and driven 112,325 miles in support of the sage grouse planning effort, and conducting surveys. Their donations are valued at nearly $245,000, which was applied as state match to federal grants.

Information gathered through the state’s conservation planning effort was shared with the US Fish and Wildlife Service as part of the petition review process.

"We are at a turning point in the history of conservation," said Terry Crawforth, Director of Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW). "Local people have met all across the west in intensive planning sessions to set a new stage for supporting species conservation. We feel very optimistic that this effort will pay off with implementation on the ground to ensure that sage grouse remain for future generations to enjoy."

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, an affiliation of fish and wildlife agencies, initiated a range-wide sage grouse conservation planning effort across 11 western states in 1998. Local planning efforts will continue to be pivotal as plans move into the implementation phase. "It is critically important to implement these plans on the ground, support the bird and its sage brush habitat, to support populations for the long term,” said Crawforth.

The greater sage-grouse is the largest North American grouse species, weighing between 2-7 pounds. The males of the species have grayish brown bodies with many small gray and white speckles; fleshy yellow eye combs throat patches, and conspicuous tail feathers that fan out during their mating display. Females are smaller with drab grayish bodies that blend in well with the sage brush environment the birds prefer.

Greater sage-grouse currently occupy 250,000 square miles in 11 states and 2 Canadian provinces with an adult population that exceeds 250,000 adult birds. The petition to list greater sage grouse would have affected areas of 11 western states, including Washington, California, Idaho, North and South Dakota, Colorado, Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, Utah, and Colorado.

The Nevada Department of Wildlife is the state agency responsible for the restoration and management of fish and wildlife resources, and the promotion of boating safety on Nevada’s waters. Wildlife offices are located in Las Vegas, Henderson, Ely, Winnemucca, Fallon, Elko, and Reno. For more information, contact the agency web site at www.ndow.org.

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