Sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a member of the Family Phasianidae and is the largest grouse found in upland areas of North America. Currently there are three basic classifications of sage grouse: The Greater Sage Grouse, the Mono Basin or Bi-state Distinct Population Segment, and the Gunnison’s sage grouse in Southwestern Colorado and Southeastern Utah.
Sage grouse can achieve lengths of up to 29 inches long, and weigh as much as 7 pounds. Sage grouse have an average lifespan of less than 2 years, though some individuals presumably in captivity have been claimed to have lived up to 9 years. Sage grouse start reproduction after 1 year, but where females retain sole responsibility for chick-raising after fertilization by dominant males at breeding patches called leks.
Sage grouse are heavily reliant upon the consumption of sage during most of the year. Chick production has been linked to insect and spring flower availability in breeding habitat, which can mean that the cyclic nature of drought in the remaining Western United States and Southern Canadian can adversely affect sage grouse populations outside of standard remediation methods.
Sage grouse were once widely distributed throughout major portions of western North America, but were hunted heavily since 1850. Currently, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service estimates that sage grouse only occupy just over 50% of their former known range.
Sage grouse were once considered as candidates for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but have only been categorized by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as warranted, but precluded for ESA listing as of March of 2010. An Agreement between the U.S. Department of Interior and Plaintiff Center for Biological Diversity (CBD), signed in September of 2011, schedules ESA listing status for protection for the Mono-Basin/Bi State Population no later than the end of 2014, unless listing proves to be unwarranted.
Similarly, Department of Interior has agreed to similar listing process for protection of greater sage grouse by 2016, unless listing proves to be unwarranted. Recovery planning and the promises of significant funding for habitat by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) was announced at a Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAWFA) conference in Tucson, Arizona in January 2011. While WAWFA experts did not expect recovery plans to positively affect sage grouse populations within at least 5 years (by 2016), the U.S. Department of Agriculture appeared ready to fund habitat efforts in an attempt to preclude listing.
Such planning involves the location of key breeding areas and critical habitat on both private and public land. Practices that negatively affect sage habitat, including grazing, mining, alternative power, and barbed wire enclosure are all considered critical aspects to be remediated before sage grouse populations are believed to be able to rebound.
Hunt for Truth is reviewing documentation in regards to claims that lead ammunition from upland game hunting is resulting in lead toxicity in sage grouse. While most studies related to upland game ingesting lead shot are related to certain migratory upland game (mourning doves, white-winged doves), other studies have attempted to note lead shot ingestion in non-native game species such as chukar and ring-necked pheasants.
