Wildlife and Plants
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Our bird's eye view of the Bi-state sage-grouse leks |
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 The helicopters are back in their hangars, the biologists have all finished their reports, the data has been secured within spreadsheets, maps and databases, and the sage-grouse are winding down their annual mating cycle.
All this has culminated in the publication of a report prepared for the Nevada Department of Wildlife and California Department of Fish & Game that describes the findings of a comprehensive survey program to examine the distribution of important sage-grouse mating grounds, called leks, in a portion of western Nevada and Eastern California.
NWP’s Renewable Energy Coordinator Craig Mortimore designed the aerial survey program. This role also required him to ride herd on its implementation, including participating in several of the 12 early morning flights within the survey area spanning from Carson City south to Bishop, Calif. This geographic area is occupied by a distinct population segment of Greater Sage-grouse called the Bi-State Population. The United States Fish & Wildlife Service will soon contemplate whether to place this population under the protection of the Endangered Species Act.
This survey was commissioned to collect additional information about the occurrence of breeding sites throughout the area. This knowledge is important in assessing the population’s health and planning for the protection of vital habitat.
The report, delivered May 15 to the agencies, describes the observation of 648 birds at 95 coordinates within the Bi-State area. Biologists observed contemporary activity on 14 known leks and also discovered at least five previously undocumented strutting grounds. Many more birds were randomly flushed by the helicopter. Ground follow-ups by the biologists will verify if these coordinates are truly leks.
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Governor's sage-group panel to meet |
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Gov. Brian Sandoval's Greater Sage-grouse Advisory Committee will hold its first meeting Tuesday (May 15) at 8:30am in the Guinn Room of the Nevada State Capitol.
What are the issues? We haven't seen the agenda but out best guess is that they'll start out by talking about how devastating it would be to Nevada's economy to have the sage-grouse listed under the Endangered Species Act. They bird's habitat and numbers have plummeted and a listing threatens to shut down mining, energy development and all kinds of other activities on public lands.
Members of the Advisory Committee are, Mayor Bob Crowell, Chairman (Carson City); Bevan Lister, Agriculture representative (Pioche); Tina Nappe, Conservation representative (Reno); Jeff Ceccarelli, Energy representative (Reno); Kent McAdoo, General Public representative (Elko); Carl Erquiaga, Local Government representative (Fallon); Allen Biaggi, Mining representative (Minden); JJ Goicoechea, Ranching representative (Eureka); Jack Robb, Sportsmen representative (Reno); and Beverly Harry, Tribal Nations representative (Nixon).
The meeting will be videoconferenced in Northern Nevada to the following locations:
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Video Classroom, 1085 Fairgrounds Road, Winnemucca
- Great Basin College High Tech Center, Room 120 (HTC 120), 1290 Burns Road, Elko
- University of Nevada Cooperative Extension Conference Room, 995 Campton St, Ely
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NWP playing important role in key sage-grouse survey |
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 The Nevada Wilderness Project is playing a big role in the current aerial survey of the Bi-state Sage-grouse population along the Nevada-California border.
Not only is our new Renewable Energy Program Coordinator Craig Mortimore coordinating the surveys for the Nevada Department of Wildlife, our Wildlife Biologist Gregg Tanner was instrumental in securing some of the private donations that are helping to pay for the flights.
The surveys, featured in the Reno Gazette-Journal, are a critical part of the state's efforts to measure the overall health of the Bi-state Sage-grouse, which is a high-ranking candidate for Endangered Species List. The Bi-state Sage-grouse, located in Carson City, Douglas, Lyon, Mineral and Esmerald counties in Nevada, is genetically distinct from the Greater Sage-grouse, which occupies the rest of Nevada and several other Western States and also is a candidate for the Endangered Species List.
Craig's work is just a part of the Nevada Wilderness Project's efforts to protect the sage-grouse's shrinking habitat. Gregg Tanner and John Tull, our Conservation Director, have been working on the issue for years -- promoting conservation easements for ranchers with wet meadows favored by the bird, tracking down previously undocumented strutting grounds (leks) where the birds mate and working hard to protect habitat from future development.
The sage-grouse numbers have been dwindling for years as the bird runs out of suitable habitats to live, raise its young and find mates. The sage-brush and forb mosaic favored by the bird has been diminished by fire, development, disease and invasive species. If the the bird is placed on the Endangered Species List as threatened or endangered, it could have a significant impact on activities on public lands, including recreation but also renewable energy development.
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Governor hosts sage grouse scoping hearing |
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 The Nevada Wilderness Project last week attended a briefing session sponsored by the Governor’s office to hear federal and state regulators reassure state officials, citizens and stakeholders that they are working hard to prevent the sage grouse from being declared an endangered species.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service determined in 2010 that an Endangered Species Act listing was warranted for the sage grouse. But its listing was precluded because the government felt other species were more endangered.
Even before that ruling, the NWP was working to bring various agencies and stakeholders together to find solutions to the problems plaguing the bird, including wildfire, pinyon-juniper encroachment, infrastructure development, disease and other issues. NWP staff wildlife biologist Gregg Tanner has been working on this issue since 2000, when he was with the Nevada Department of Wildlife, and has continued this effort since joining NWP.
Gregg, NWP Executive Director Jeneane Harter, and NWP Conservation Director John Tull all attended the briefing session. Representatives from mining, ranching, farming and energy development, as well as various state and federal agencies, were also on hand in the crowded legislative hearing room in Carson City.
“I came away with the impression that people are beginning to pay attention,” Gregg said. “People are beginning to understand that we can’t tromp on the sage grouse.”
An Endangered Species Act listing would bring a wide variety of activities on public lands in Nevada to a halt, potentially including mining, renewable energy development and other activities. This issue is much broader than Nevada, however; the greater sage grouse population stretches across 11 Western States, and the bistate sage grouse population along the Nevada and California is particularly imperiled.
NWP will be involved as a catalyst to bring groups together to develop ambitious conservation plans that will prevent the bird from being listed.
Gregg Tanner, second from left (top photo) leads a tour of the Bistate Sage Grouse area in 2011. Bottom photo: a strutting male sage grouse.
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BLM issues Interim Management orders on sage-grouse |
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 The Bureau of Land Management has issued instructions to its state offices to take immediate steps to protect a dwindling greater sage grouse population in 10 Western states.
In two separate directives, called Instructional Memorandums (IMs) in BLM parlance, BLM Director Bob Abbey outlined how he wants the BLM to manage sage-grouse habitat while the agency revises Resource Management Plans for BLM lands in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming.
In a public release, Abby said the goal of the IMs is to restore and maintain sage-grouse and their habitat “while also facilitating safe and responsible energy development and recreational opportunities that power our economy."
For example, in “priority” sage-grouse habitat that includes breeding, brood-rearing and winter concentration areas, human-caused disturbance would be limited to less than 2.5 percent of the species’ total habitat.
In March 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ruled that listing sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act was “warranted but precluded” because it was busy with more-troubled species. But it said the BLM and U.S. Forest Service are not “fully implementing the regulatory mechanisms available” to ensure the species’ conservation, which is why the two agencies are trying to address the FWS’s concerns.
As part of that effort, the BLM and USFS are holding five scoping meetings in Nevada to allow people to talk to staff and resource specialists about what the agencies should address in the environmental impact statements to evaluate conservation measures for sage-grouse.The BLM and the USFS have identified the following preliminary issues to address in its environmental analysis: greater sage-grouse habitat management, fluid minerals, coal mining, hard rock mining, mineral materials, rights-of-way, renewable energy development, wildfire, invasive species, grazing, off highway vehicle management and recreation.
The scoping meetings will follow an open house format; no formal presentations will be given so participants may arrive at any time during the meeting. The meetings will be held from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. at all Nevada locations except for the meeting in Ely, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. Here's the schedule:
• Tonopah, Jan. 9, Tonopah Convention Center, 301 Brougher Ave
• Ely, Jan. 10, BLM Office, 702 N. Industrial Way
• Elko, Jan. 11, Hilton Garden Inn, 3650 Idaho Street
• Winnemucca, Jan. 12, Winnemucca Inn, 741 W. Winnemucca Blvd
• Reno, Jan. 30, 6 p.m. to 8 p.m., Hyatt Place, 1790 E. Plumb Lane
The 60-day comment period ends Feb. 7. Comments and requests to be added to the mailing list may be made to the BLM during the scoping meetings, by email:
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, or by mail: Western Region Project Manager, BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502. Additional information is available at the BLM’s greater sage-grouse website at: www.blm.gov/sagegrouse. Questions may be emailed to:
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