Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife
For more information call 800-720-6339 (ODFW) or 503-947-6002
Internet: www.dfw.state.or.us

For immediate release
Monday, Jan. 3, 2005

Comments sought on draft sage-grouse plan

SALEM – The Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife today announced the release of a draft plan for managing greater sage-grouse in Oregon . After final revision and adoption, the plan will guide future management of the state’s sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat.

Several public meetings were held in eastern Oregon last August to discuss the development of a conservation assessment and strategy for sage-grouse and sagebrush habitat. Public comments from the Oregon meetings were used to help develop the draft plan. The meetings were coordinated by ODFW, the Bureau of Land Management and the U. S. Fish and Wildlife Service. “In addition, this plan was written with guidance from the Oregon Sage-grouse Conservation Planning Team, which includes representatives from both the public and private sectors,” said Christian Hagen, ODFW biologist and lead author of the draft plan.

Interested individuals can view the draft plan on the agency Web site at www.dfw.state.or.us/ODFWhtml/InfoCntrWild/sage-grouse.pdf  or send a request for a copy to Wildlife Division, ODFW, 3406 Cherry Avenue NE , Salem , OR 97303 . Written comments on the plan can be mailed to the same address or e-mailed by March 1, 2005 , to sagegrouse@state.or.us .

In addition, ODFW will be hosting several public meetings in late January and February seeking comment on the draft plan. The locations and times of the meetings have not been confirmed but will be announced soon.

An informational briefing on the draft plan will be presented to the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission at their April 15, 2005 , meeting in Salem . After considering public comment, a revised draft plan is scheduled to be presented to the Commission on May 13, 2005 , in Prineville and proposed for adoption.

Sage-grouse occur in 11 western states and two Canadian provinces. Similar sage-grouse conservation planning efforts are being conducted in other western states, and Oregon ’s plan will be aligned with those efforts to create a range-wide plan. Oregon contains 18 million acres of sagebrush habitat and about 20 percent of the current sage-grouse range in the United States .

Environmental organizations petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list sage-grouse range-wide for protection under the Federal Endangered Species Act. The petitions cited declines in sage-grouse populations across the birds’ historic range as the reason for listing. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Dec. 3 that their senior biologists recommended sage-grouse not be listed for protection at this time. Federal officials have not yet made a final listing decision, however.


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