Gunnison Sage Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) by GaryKramer.net, 530-934-3873, gkramer@cwo.com
Estimates from Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) show that the local Gunnison sage-grouse population has increased for the second year in a row.Each spring, CPW, with help from other local federal agencies, landowners and volunteers, organizes a group of lek counters to monitor the sage-grouse’s breeding sites throughout the valley. Leks, which are areas where males gather to court prospective mates, are revisited annually by the birds as well as the counters, who provide a snapshot of the threatened sage-grouse’s population numbers.In 2023, counters visited 83 leks and recorded a high male count of 805, an increase of 24 birds from 2022. CPW recorded a female count of 355, an increase of 62 birds from last year, and a record high since 1998. The agency estimates the Gunnison Basin population is between 3,220 to 3,950 birds, almost 100 more than in 2022. The steady positive trend over the past four years signals the local population may be recovering from the sharp decline documented in 2019.Wildlife biologists suspect that sage-grouse numbers received a boost from the lingering moisture that followed a big snow year during the winter of 2022-23. The Gunnison Basin held onto a hefty snowpack late into the spring season and early summer. The result was a healthy understory, which is the collection of grasses and flowers that grow in and around the sagebrush ecosystem. “In the early part of the summer, things were nice and green out there,” said CPW wildlife biologist Nate Seward. “When those hens finally had their clutches, the brood-rearing habitat was in pretty good condition.”The deep snow made it challenging for counters to access leks throughout much of April, with snowpack still sitting at 170% of normal. Although some leks didn’t get a decent count until later in the month, CPW observed three different leks that had more than 200 birds. These were winter flocks that hadn’t spread out across the basin yet, but it was encouraging to see that many birds at once, Seward said. The Bureau of Land Management (BLM), which manages 40% of the bird’s habitat, is in the process of drafting a new plan that will create more consistent management guidelines across the Gunnison sage-grouse’s entire range in western Colorado. This was triggered, in part, from a sharp population decline following a series of drought years between 2017 and 2022. CPW often makes land use recommendations to the BLM to avoid and mitigate the impacts of development on sage-grouse habitat. Seward said he’s hopeful the amendment will equate to more protections for the sage-grouses and the eventual recovery of the species. “The BLM resource management plan amendment is desperately needed,” he said. (Bella Biondini can be contacted at 970.641.1414 or bella@gunnisontimes.com.)
Gunnison Sage Grouse (Centrocercus minimus) by GaryKramer.net, 530-934-3873, gkramer@cwo.com
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