Help restore sage grouse habitat
Money available to private landowners who will help reestablish broad-leafed plants
By GREG STAHL
Express Staff Writer
In an effort to help sage grouse populations rebound, a Western grouse advocacy group has established a new, Idaho-based program to help private landowners restore sage grouse habitat.
The North American Grouse Partnership is calling its new program the Grouse Habitat Restoration Fund, and the goal is to provide seeds for broad leaf herbaceous plants, called forbs, that brooding hens and young chicks need.
The project was made possible when the Idaho Office of Species Conservation gave the non-profit organization $50,000 for the conservation program.
It is a new, innovative program in Idaho, said Susan Lambert, the program?s administrative coordinator.
?It hasn?t been tried yet,? she said.
In Idaho, as in other Western states, sage grouse populations are falling, and Endangered Species Act listing has been discussed for more than a decade. Sage grouse were once so numerous that early settlers compared them to the passenger pigeon, whose flocks were said to turn day to night.
Since 1980, sage grouse populations have declined 45 to 82 percent. The bird is declining in Idaho, Oregon, Washington, Nevada, Utah, Colorado, Wyoming, Montana, California and North and South Dakota. It has vanished completely from Arizona, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Kansas, Nebraska and British Columbia.
In Alberta and Saskatchewan, the Canadian government has listed the sage grouse as endangered.
?Idaho?s sage grouse are in trouble,? according to an educational pamphlet distributed by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game. ?Populations of the bird are plummeting in the state, as wildfire, agricultural expansion, herbicides, prescribed fire, grazing and rangeland seedings have nibbled away at its habitat.
In some areas of the state, up to 80 percent of the habitat vital to the birds has been destroyed.
Enter the Grouse Habitat Restoration Fund.
The forbs the fund is encouraging landowners to plant help attract insects, which provide sustenance during the first two weeks of a chick?s life. Forb leaves, buds and flowers also provide nourishment throughout chick growth and development.
In addition, the forbs provide food for hens during egg development.
The fund is a supplement to other conservation programs sponsored by federal and state agencies and private organizations, the grouse partnership said.
While many of the programs assist landowners with the costs of undertaking conservation seeding, most seed mixtures do not include the more expensive seeds for the forbs that grouse most need.
The Grouse Habitat Restoration Fund will provide landowners with additional financial assistance to help cover their share of the costs for a multi-species seeding mixture, or provide the actual seed that will benefit sage grouse.
It is the North American Grouse Partnership?s ambition to expand the program to include public lands, other states and other declining grouse species.
For more information
Landowners can learn more about the Grouse Habitat Restoration Fund and how to obtain funds by contacting one of the following North American Grouse Partnership representatives: Kent Christopher (208) 356-0079, Alan Sands (208) 343-8826 or David Skinner (208) 764-3224.
The program is designed to help establish more forbs in sage grouse habitats across the state of Idaho. Increased chick survival is the expected outcome.
