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Every spring, male sage grouse gather together to strut their stuff in some of the most riveting mating exhibitions of birds worldwide. Punctuating their displays with swishing, hooting, and popping sounds, males bob their heads, fan their tail feathers, raise their wings, and expand and contract distinctive yellow air sacs to compete for females’ favor. But sage grouse “leks,” or mating grounds, are becoming less and less lively as habitat dwindles and numbers decline — especially in the Mono Basin area, where an isolated, genetically distinct population is holding on by a thread.
ENDANGERED SPECIES ACT PROFILE
PROTECTION STATUS: Not listed
PETITIONED: 2005
RANGE: The Mono Basin area in northeastern California and northwestern Nevada
THREATS: Habitat loss and fragmentation from development, livestock grazing, off-road vehicle use, and increased fire frequency and intensity; the spread of invasive plants; drought; and continued hunting in California
POPULATION TREND: Overall, the greater sage grouse’s range and distribution have been reduced by 56 percent, and populations have declined by as much as 93 percent from presumed historic levels. The Mono Basin area sage grouse has suffered an even greater reduction in range than sage grouse across the West, with current populations having declined significantly from historic estimates. Habitat in the California portion of the grouse’s range has been reduced by more than 70 percent and continues to shrink.
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SAVING THE MONO BASIN AREA GREATER SAGE GROUSE
Thanks to livestock grazing, development, off-road vehicles, and a host of other threats, the greater sage grouse is fast disappearing from a number of regions across the West, with the Mono Basin area being one of the most crucial to the species. The loss of this already isolated population would create a gap in the range of the species as a whole, covering 14 counties across two states and spanning thousands of square miles. Further, it would ruin the integrity of unique Mono Basin ecosystems and rob the world of a genetically distinct — and therefore irreplaceable — sage grouse population.
Despite the sage grouse’s danger, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service denied a 2005 petition filed by the Center and allies to recognize the Mono Basin area sage grouse as a distinct population and federally grant it threatened or endangered status. While acknowledging the population’s uniqueness, in 2006 the Service failed to acknowledge significant evidence of its risk for extinction. Finally, two years after the petition was submitted and six months after we and our allies filed a lawsuit, the Service agreed to withdrawing its 2006 pronouncement. In April 2008, the agency announced it would consider the bird for Endangered Species Act listing. The Center will work to ensure that the agency’s ultimate finding keeps the Mono Basin area sage grouse from dying out.
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Contact: Lisa Belenky
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