Sage-grouse

In the fall, sagebrush flowers and goes to seed as temperatures drop and daylight hours shorten. Protein-rich seeds and evergreen sage leaves continue to feed and shield greater sage-grouse.

By late summer, sagebrush rangelands have dried out after many weeks without significant rainfall, and broods of sage-grouse are venturing farther afield.

As the BLM and partners work to reverse decline in greater sage-grouse populations, we also recognize that successful conservation requires thinking about how actions to protect one species may in turn affect others.

Greater sage-grouse hens and their broods of growing chicks spend the long days of summer on walkabouts, continuing to rely on sagebrush and native grasses for food and shelter.

Proposed amendments to 11 resource management plans will support conservation of the Gunnison sage-grouse, listed as threatened under the Endangered Species Act in 2014.