beneficial management practices for saskatchewan species at risk: greater sage-grouse endangered

Beneficial Management Practices for Saskatchewan

Species at Risk:

Greater Sage-grouse Endangered

• Long black & white tail with pointy tips

• Black patch on belly

• White band on black throat

• Large ruff of white feathers on chest

• Yellow combs above eyes

• Found in warm, dry grasslands where sagebrush, particularly where Silver Sagebrush is present

• Restricted to sagebrush community due to attributes that meet needs throughout life cycle

• Feeds on soft vegetation such as sagebrush, flowering plants and insects

• Located in the SW corner of the province where sagebrush communities exist

• Status: Endangered

• Declined due habitat loss, degradation and fragmentation, increased predation, West Nile virus and genetic inbreeding

• 186-276 birds in Saskatchewan

Beneficial Management Practices

Habitat Size

• Retain all remaining natural prairie within a 5 to 10 km radius around a Greater Sage-grouse lek

Grazing

• Avoid early spring livestock use of sage grouse habitat

• Graze lightly and periodically in the early spring or late dormant season

• Avoid concentrated grazing or supplemental feeding in sagebrush communities in the winter

Grazing (cont’d)

• Limit sheep utilization of sage grouse habitat

• Avoid water developments that disrupt the natural flow of water to low-lying moist areas or function of riparian vegetation

• Install escape ramps in existing steep sided water troughs and dugouts

Grazing (cont’d)

• Avoid installing fences within sage grouse habitat where fences did not previously exist

• When rebuilding existing fences, make at least the top 2 wires smooth rather than barbed

Woody Vegetation

• Do not plant trees or shrubs on native grasslands within 5 to 10 km of a lek

• Remove man-made structures from native or tame grassland that serve as roosts for avian predators

• Avoid removal or reduction of woody shrubs (i.e. Silver Sagebrush) by any method within 5 to 10 km of a lek

Roads

• Restrict traffic on roads within 3 km of a sage grouse lek during breeding & nesting

• Restrict traffic speed on roads to 10km of a sage grouse lek

• Encourage resource developers to minimize construction of new roads and trails within 3 km of sage grouse lek

Ecotourism & Off Highway Vehicle Use

• Avoid ecotourism activities and using all terrain vehicles and in sage grouse habitat during breeding and nesting period