Latest Gunnison Grouse Stories
On Friday, the Interior Department said that it does not plan to list the sage grouse as endangered or threatened, but will classify the bird amongst other species that are candidates for federal protection. This news is good for the wind energy and oil and gas industries, which would have faced tighter restrictions if the bird were listed. Ken Salazar, Interior Secretary, said the listing is warranted but precluded by other species that are in greater danger. Some Western states have been...
By MATTHEW BROWN Associated Press Writer BILLINGS, Mont. - Two conservation groups have asked the federal government to impose new restrictions on oil and gas development in the West to protect the greater sage grouse, a popular game bird on the decline. Scientists contend sage grouse breeding areas are suffering in the face of accelerating oil and gas exploration in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and other Western states. West Nile virus, drought and residential development also have...
PHOENIX (AP) -- The federal government has decided not to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, a Colorado senator announced Thursday. The yearslong battle over whether to declare the large game bird endangered has pitted development and related interests against conservationists. Listing the bird under the act would have meant restrictions on grazing, oil and gas leasing, and hunting across 150 million acres of sagebrush habitat in 11 Western states. "This is great news...
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Interior Department biologists have recommended against adding the sage grouse to the endangered species list, a determination that could wind up benefiting natural gas and oil producers but add to environmentalists' concerns. At stake is a bird whose numbers have declined to as few as 142,000, as well as the use of great expanses of Western sagebrush that provide cover and food between 4,000 and 9,000 feet elevations. At one time there may have been as many as 16 million...
Latest Gunnison Grouse Reference Libraries
The Gunnison Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) is a species of grouse endemic to the United States, where it is known as the Gunnison Sage-Grouse. It’s similar to the closely related Greater Sage-Grouse in its appearance but about a third smaller in size, with much thicker plumes behind its head; it also has a less complex courtship dance. It’s restricted in range to southwestern Colorado and extreme southeastern Utah, with the largest population residing in the Gunnison Basin region in...
The Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is the largest species of grouse found in North America. It occurs in the western United States and in Canada in southern Alberta and southern Saskatchewan. Its habitat is semiarid country sagebrush. Though this species is not considered endangered by the IUCN, its range has shrunk and it no longer exists in British Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Arizona and New Mexico. This bird is a permanent resident in its range, though some birds...
