Greater Sage-Grouse and the Energy Industry
Hiawatha Regional Energy Development Project continues habitat research |
This project focuses on using new advances in habitat modeling to identify and delineate critical sage-grouse breeding and wintering habitats within the proposed Hiawatha Regional Energy Development Project area along the Colorado-Wyoming border. This project will also identify local- and landscape-scale habitat features important to grouse in order to develop quantitative criteria for the size and scale of sagebrush habitat required to maintain robust populations. The research is being conducted in the Zone 1 (Cold Springs/Hiawatha) core area in northwestern Colorado and south-central Wyoming, one of eleven core sage-grouse populations in Colorado (see p.295 in the Colorado Statewide Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Plan).
The objectives of this study are to:
- Generate high-resolution maps of important sage-grouse wintering and breeding habitats within the proposed Hiawatha gas field through radio tracking efforts and regular monitoring of lekking, nesting, brood-rearing and wintering sage-grouse.
- Evaluate the relative importance of local-scale vs. landscape-scale features in sage-grouse winter habitat selection
- Identify landscape-scale criteria for sage-grouse breeding and winter habitat.
- Assess the influence of historical energy development on current sage-grouse habitat use.
Current research on greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus rophasianus) and energy development in Northwestern Colorado is being conducted by Dr. Brett L. Walker. The project is funded by the Colorado Division of Wildlife, Questar Exploration and Production, Inc., the Southwest Wyoming Local Sage-Grouse Working Group, and state severance taxes. Research is being conducted with cooperation from the Vermillion Ranch and other private landowners.
Check out the Greater Sage-Grouse Research page for a more in depth explanation of this project. Learn more about the greater sage-grouse by reading the species profile.