Federal and state government agencies, ranchers and farmers, and conservation groups have teamed up in recent years in a quest to keep the greater sage-grouse and Gunnison sage-grouse off the federal endangered species list.
They all gathered Tuesday in downtown Salt Lake City to compare notes, and not surprisingly, concluded that there is still much work left to be done - even if there is unanimity about the bottom line.
"Caring is critical to the conservation of the species, but in addition we're going to have to be smart if we still want to have sage grouse in Utah in 100 years," said Joan Degiorgio, a regional director for the Nature Conservancy of Utah.
Tuesday marked the beginning of a two-day sage-grouse "summit" sponsored by Utah State University's Extension Services and the state Department of Natural Resources, among others. And what emerged during a morning discussion is that it's going to take more than just good intentions to return the two species to healthy population numbers in the state.
Wildfire, invasive plant species, energy development and livestock grazing have all taken their toll on sage grouse habitat across the Intermountain West in recent decades. The greater sage-grouse, which ranges across the state, has been reduced to a population of between 13,000 and 15,000, while the Gunnison species has been whittled down to around 100 in southwest Utah near the Colorado border.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has declined to list both species as endangered in the past two years, spawning lawsuits from environmental groups in both instances. The goal of the state's sage grouse working groups is to ensure they stay off the list.
