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A U.S Fish and Wildlife Service memorandum
provides new evidence that former
Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald, and the Fish and Wildlife
Service Washington and Regional offices frustrated and prevented agency
biologists from recommending that the Service list Gunnison sage-grouse
as "endangered" or "threatened" under the ESA.
San Miguel County (CO) and citizen organizations filed a lawsuit today in
federal court challenging the failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to protect the Gunnison sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act.
Documents received from the Fish and Wildlife Service reveal that Bush Administration
officials reversed the agency's recommendation to list Gunnison sage-grouse
as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act.
San Miguel County in Colorado has formally joined an effort to protect the
Gunnison sage-grouse under the federal Endangered Species Act. ....More....
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has denied protection to the Gunnison
sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act. Scientists have warned that
Gunnison sage-grouse may become extinct without protection. ....More....| The
Gunnison sage grouse is distinct
from greater sage grouse, identified by researchers as early as the
1970s and recognized as a new species by the American Ornithologists
Union in 2000. While its historic range may have included parts of
Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, Arizona Kansas, and Oklahoma, the species
now occurs only in small, isolated populations centered around the
Gunnison Basin in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. Gunnison sage-grouse are smaller than greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus), and have distinct genetic, physical and behavioral characteristics. Like the greater sage-grouse, the Gunnison sage-grouse is known for its impressive mating ritual, though the mating behavior of the Gunnison sage-grouse differs from that of greater sage-grouse. The Gunnison sage-grouse mating display includes unique visual and acoustical patterns that do not occur in greater sage-grouse. Gunnison sage-grouse males have more noticeable white barring in their sharply pointed tail feathers (retrices), which are also longer than are those of greater sage-grouse. Gunnison sage-grouse males also have longer, thicker filoplumes (hairlike feathers extending back from the nape of the neck) than greater sage-grouse males, which they use more conspicuously by tossing them above their heads during the strut. Conservationists petitioned to list the Gunnison sage grouse as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act in 2000, when the total population comprised approximately 3,500 individuals. Livestock grazing, drought, motorized recreation, and poor land use planning threaten the species's continued existence. West Nile virus, a disease that is fatal to greater sage grouse, has also been discovered in Gunnison sage grouse range. |
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Gunnison
Sage Grouse Images |
Gunnison
Sage Grouse 
Colorado Matters
March 6, 2006. Colorado Public Radio 
| Gunnison
Sage Grouse Factsheet |
|
| Salvo,
Goodtimes
"Gunnison Sage-grouse
Need ESA Protection" (opinion-editorial) |
|
| Sage
Grouse: A Primer on Sage Grouse Taxonomy
A brief description of Gunnison sage grouse and greater sage grouse,
including potential subspecies and distinct population segments, prepared
by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. |
|
| Gunnison
Sage Grouse Occupied Habitat Map |
|
| Audubon
Society. America's Top Ten Most Endangered Birds. National Audubond
Society. Washington, DC. (March
2006)
(4 mb) |
Conservation Groups Seek Emergency Listing for Gunnison Sage Grouse
Conservation Groups File Lawsuit to List Gunnison Sage Grouse as Endangered September 29, 2000 Conservation, Scientific Organizations to List the Gunnison Sage Grouse under the Endangered Species Act January 28, 2000
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