Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-Grouse and Sagebrush Habitats
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats J. W. Connelly S. T. Knick M. A. Schroeder S. J. Stiver Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies June 2004 CONSERVATION ASSESSMENT OF GREATER SAGE-GROUSE and SAGEBRUSH HABITATS John W. Connelly Idaho Department Fish and Game 83 W 215 N Blackfoot, ID 83221 [email protected] Steven T. Knick USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Snake River Field Station 970 Lusk St. Boise, ID 83706 [email protected] Michael A. Schroeder Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife P.O. Box 1077 Bridgeport, WA 98813 [email protected] San J. Stiver Wildlife Coordinator, National Sage-Grouse Conservation Framework Planning Team 2184 Richard St. Prescott, AZ 86301 [email protected] This report should be cited as: Connelly, J. W., S. T. Knick, M. A. Schroeder, and S. J. Stiver. 2004. Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats. Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies. Unpublished Report. Cheyenne, Wyoming. Cover photo credit, Kim Toulouse i Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats Connelly et al. Author Biographies John W. Connelly Jack has been employed as a Principal Wildlife Research Biologist with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game for the last 20 years. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Idaho and M.S. and Ph.D. degrees from Washington State University. Jack is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and works on grouse conservation issues at national and international scales. He is a member of the Western Sage and Columbian Sharp-tailed Technical Committee and the Grouse Specialists’ Group. Jack has been involved with sage-grouse research and management issues for over 27 years. Steven T. Knick Steve has been employed as a federal Research Ecologist since 1990, most recently with the United States Geological Survey. He received his B.S. degree from the University of Minnesota, M.S. from Washington State University and Ph.D. from the University of Montana. Steve has worked on national and international wildlife issues ranging from wolf and grizzly bear management to conservation of shrubland ecosystems. For the past 15 years, Steve has integrated field and GIS-based analyses to study the effects of disturbance on sagebrush habitats and bird communities. Michael A. Schroeder Mike has been employed as the Upland Bird Research Biologist with the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife for the last 12 years. He received his B.S. degree from Texas A&M University, M.S. from the University of Alberta, and Ph.D. from Colorado State University. Mike is a Certified Wildlife Biologist and works on grouse conservation issues at national and international scales. He is a member of the Western Sage and Columbian Sharp- tailed Technical Committee and the Grouse Specialists’ Group. Mike has been involved with grouse research and management issues for over 23 years. San J. Stiver San recently retired after 30 years as a biologist for the Nevada Division of Wildlife. He is currently employed by the National Sage-Grouse Conservation Planning Framework Team. San received his B.S. from the University of Montana. He has been a member of the Wildlife Society since 1971 and was a member of the Western Sage and Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse Technical Committee from 1981 – 2003. San has been involved in national and international wildlife conservation issues since 1985. He has worked on sage-grouse as a field biologist, researcher and staff biologist for over 25 years. ii Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats Connelly et al. Contributors The following individuals provided important information and in many cases wrote portions of one or more chapters. Jenny Barnett Handford Reach National Monument/Saddle Mountain NWR 3250 Port of Benton Blvd. Richland, WA 99352 Jenny Barnett, After studying sage grouse for her Master's degree, Jenny Barnett has worked as a wildlife biologist for BLM and USFWS. Her work has focused on sage grouse, song birds, pygmy rabbits and other species in shrub-steppe habitat. She is currently a Wildlife Biologist/GIS specialist for Hanford Reach National Monument. Erik A. Beever USGS Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center 3200 SW Jefferson Way Corvallis, OR 97331 email: [email protected] Erik Beever, is a postdoctoral ecologist with the USGS-BRD Forest and Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center. He has studied the interactions of free-roaming horses and burros with other ecosystem components since 1995. His interests include community ecology, wildlife biology, disturbance ecology (including climate change), and conservation of Great Basin habitats and landscapes. Tom Christiansen Sage-Grouse Program Coordinator Wyoming Game and Fish Dept. 351 Astle Ave. Green River, WY 82935 [email protected] Tom Christiansen, is the Sage-Grouse Program Coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department. Prior to this appointment he was a regional wildlife biologist in Green River and has been with the WGF for 19 years. Christiansen received his Bachelor of Science degree from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Michelle Commons-Kemner Senior Wildlife Research Biologist Idaho Department of Fish and Game 3101 S. Powerline Road Nampa, Idaho 83686 [email protected] Michelle Commons-Kemner, graduated with her under-graduate degree from the University of Northern Colorado, Greeley, and her Master's from the University of Manitoba, Canada. She conducted her thesis research on Gunnison sage-grouse. Prior to being employed with IDFG she studied White-tailed ptarmigan in Colorado and Vancouver Island. She has been employed with IDFG since 1998, and as a sage-grouse research biologist since 2000. She continues to be actively involved in the sage-grouse research projects across the state as well as working on Idaho's Greater sage-grouse conservation plan, and developing new sage-grouse Local Working Groups. iii Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats Connelly et al. Sean Finn USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Snake River Field Station 970 Lusk St. Boise, ID 83706 [email protected] Sean Finn, received his M.S. in Raptor Biology from Boise State University in 2000. His thesis project examined the influences of habitat quality and scale of investigation on Northern Goshawk breeding ecology on the Olympic Peninsula. He is currently employed as a Wildlife Biologist for the USGS Biological Resources Division working on avian conservation issues in western shrub-steppe landscapes. Scott Gardner California Department of Game and Fish Wildlife Programs Branch 1812 9th Street Sacramento, CA 95814 [email protected] Scott Gardner, is the sage grouse coordinator for the California Department of Fish and Game. Scott received his M.S. in Wildlife Resources from the University of Idaho, where he worked on reintroduction of Columbian sharp- tailed grouse and sage grouse research in southeastern Idaho. Scott is currently leading sage grouse conservation planning efforts in California and collaborating on research projects statewide. Edward O. Garton Professor Fish and Wildlife Resources University of Idaho Moscow, ID 83844-1136 [email protected] Edward O. Garton, is a professor at the University of Idaho with joint appointments in Wildlife Ecology and Statistics. He and his students have been studying the population ecology of both rare and abundant birds and mammals in the Western U.S. for the past 30 years. They have published more than 50 papers and monographs on species ranging from white-crowned sparrows to elk with additional contributions developing quantitative tools for assessing home range/space use, abundance of song birds and dynamics of large mammals using aerial surveys. Michael Gregg Land Management and Research Demonstration Biologist Hanford Reach National Monument and Saddle Mountain National Wildlife Refuge U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service 3720 Port of Benton Blvd. Richland, WA 99352 [email protected] Michael Gregg, B.S. 1985 Humboldt State University, M.S. 1991 (on sage grouse) Oregon state University, Ph.D Candidate (on sage grouse) Oregon State University. Mike has 15 years experience with sage-grouse and 11 years with the USFWS. He is currently the Land Management and Research Demonstration Biologist for Region 1 and coordinates and conduct research and restoration projects in shrub-steppe and on sagebrush dependent wildlife. iv Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats Connelly et al. Steven Hanser USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Snake River Field Station 970 Lusk St. Boise, ID 83706 [email protected] Steve Hanser, is a Wildlife Biologist at the USGS Snake River Field Station in Boise, Idaho. Steve received his M.S. in Biological Sciences and Geotechnologies Post-baccalaureate Certification in 2002 from Idaho State University where he studied the impact of habitat fragmentation on the shrub-steppe small mammal community of eastern Idaho. His current work includes GIS/remote sensing analysis and modeling for several projects studying landscape-scale issues in the sagebrush ecosystem. Matthew J. Holloran Wyoming Cooperative Research Unit University of Wyoming Box 3166 University Station Laramie, WY 82071-3166 [email protected] Matthew Holloran, has been doing research on sage-grouse in Wyoming since 1997, and is currently working on his dissertation investigating the potential impacts of natural gas development on sage-grouse in western Wyoming. Matthias Leu USGS Forest & Rangeland Ecosystem Science Center Snake River Field Station 970 Lusk St. Boise, ID 83706 [email protected] Matthias Leu, is a postdoctoral associate with USGS in Boise, ID. He earned a PhD from the University of Washington in wildlife biology and conservation; his dissertation work investigated habitat-wildlife interactions. As a post doctoral fellow, Matthias worked with John Marzluff, University of Washington, on models predicting the spatial distribution of marbled murrelet nest predators and currently investigates with Steve Knick, at USGS in Boise ID, how anthropogenic resources and land cover change influence sagebrush habitats and wildlife populations.