Update on the Sage Grouse

In a December newspaper article by By Matthew Liebenberg from the Prairie Post....

In the 1980s there was still a significant number of sage-grouse on the Canadian prairies, estimated at between 4,000 and 6,000.

“There were many thousands and there’s really no doubt now that they’ve declined to just a few hundred in Alberta and Saskatchewan,” he said. “So there’s been a really dramatic decline of at least 90 per cent.”

Most of the decline is thought to be due to habitat changes such as new roads or oil and gas developments. They typically nest in an area around a lek and they need sage brush habitat as part of their life cycle. Females return to where they nested before and as a result their numbers drop disproportionately in relation to any habitat disturbance.

While the research might help with efforts to increase the sage-grouse population in Saskatchewan, the Alberta authorities have already started with the more drastic approach of importing sage-grouse from Montana.

“There’s no doubt this is a critically imperilled bird,” Fargey said. “It will take a major effort to rejuvenate the population in Saskatchewan.”

http://www.prairiepost.com/news/sw-sask-news/environment/3776-fight-continues-to-save-sage-grouse-in-southwest-sask.html