Shaping Agriculture in Grouse Ecosystems 835 Travois Way, Boise ID 83930 Press Release Contact: Calla Hagle Release

Date: 5/12/2013 Office Telephone: (208) 926-4548 Cellphone: (208) 926-4546 Fax number: (208) 926-8349 E-mail: callahagle@sagegrouse.com

S.A.G.E

SAGEGROUSE VANISHING ACT Landowners hold key to save southern Idaho habitat while protecting time-honored ranching traditions

BOISE, Idaho, (April 19, 2013) The annual display of sage grouse on their strutting groundsknown as leksis one of the most dramatic wildlife spectacles in the West. Each bird looks like a parading feather pillow, tail feathers jauntily erect, two yellow air sacs bulging from its ample feathery bosom. Sage grouse depend on sagebrush to provide food and a safe haven to raise their young. Ranchers depend on this sagebrush country too. But this ecosystem, on which ranchers and wildlife both depend, is not healthy. This really is a serious situation. We could lose this bird, said Scott Bodle, a Forest Service wildlife biologist from the Mountain Home Ranger District, who has studied the birds for 10 years. --More--

Sagegrouse p. 2 Loss and fragmentation of sagebrush habitat are the main reasons for the species decline. The U.S. Department of Interior estimates that sage grouse have experienced a 90% decline in numbers and a 50% decline in habitat over the last century. As a result, the Greater Sage Grouse is now a candidate for listing under the Endangered Species Act. While its easy to envision another showdown brewing between a resource-based industry and an endangered species, ranchers in southern Idaho are working with land managers and conservation groups to protect sage grouse. They are developing immediate plans to protect the birds and improve their habitat, in hopes of restoring health to the sagebrush range for the benefit of both wildlife and ranch life. If enough landowners are interested in developing these agreements, their conservation efforts could avoid the need to list the Greater Sage Grouse, Scott Bodle said. Native juniper trees and weeds harm sage grouse habitat and livestock forage. By approaching the problem as a land management problem rather than a species problem, there is a chance to develop plans that would benefit ranchers and sage grouse alike. The cattle industry across the West stands to benefit from rangeland improvements. Ranchers are urged to contact their local Natural Resource Conservation Service office for further information about wildlife habitat incentive programs that could be implemented on their own lands.

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S.A.G.E is a privately funded conservation group formed to help private landowners voluntarily conserve sage grouse habitat and wildlife populations on their working lands.