SAGE GROUSE SCRIPT:

Christian Hagen –


When we loose grouse on the landscape, it’s a major uphill battle. One of the tools that we have available to us is to actually trap and transplant wild birds from one place to another.


And the state of Washington, because their populations have been so diminished over time, that they’ve been in this trap and translocate operation (these conservation actions) for a number of years now. And because the birds have been doing so well in Oregon and our genetics are very similar to what’s in Washington, we have been chosen as one of the source populations.


This species absolutely requires sagebrush, and they require large landscapes of it, because they need options. Greater sage grouse populations in Oregon today represent really some of the last strongholds for the species. Unlike the rest of the west where we’ve seen a 50% reduction in habitat, we’ve only seen about a 30% reduction in Oregon. We largely have vast intact landscapes of sagebrush.


Michael A. Schroeder  -


Washington historically was a major part of the Sage Grouse range. We had a lot of habitat here.  But because of so many areas here converted to wheat, we no longer have the birds.


Doing a translocation quite often requires very difficult conditions because it is dark, it is rocky, a lot of times you don’t know the terrain very well. Once you find a bird and you’re able to approach it with the spotlight, once you get really close, we can quickly put a net out and over the bird.


Michael A. Schroeder VO -


“And 1-6-8… Remind me to make sure hankerchiefs are should required field gear.”


Michael A. Schroeder  -


After processing birds, usually will have somebody drive the birds back to Washington – it’s usually about a 10 to 12 hour drive. And then the birds – we’ll keep them over night and release them in the morning.


We look in Washington and we can see the challenges, it’s obvious because of the transmission lines, the highways, the people, everything is there.


2008 through 2015, we translocated 279 birds. So far the results have been fairly positive. Populations higher this year then it was last year – this makes people very happy. It’s nice to have birds back on that landscape again.