Sage Grouse Draw Visitors to Dubois

(For online video of this and other issues please go to http://fishandgame.idaho.gov/cms/news/video/.) It's 5 o'clock in the morning in Dubois, a small town on the wind swept Eastern Snake River Plain. Local residents have coffee on and donuts ready as visitors first trickle and then stream into the school auditorium. "This year we said this is a priority," Bob Lugar said. "We wanted to do this. So we set our alarm clocks and we made it!" Bob Lugar and his family joined dozens of other visitors to see sage grouse perform their mating rituals on the traditional dancing grounds, called leks. This year, the Sixth Annual Dubois Grouse Days is planned for April 11 and 12. These days, few people have the chance to see the male birds strut and dance to win a female grouse's attention. Yet, during Dubois Grouse Days, several bus loads of people are shuttled form lek to lek to watch the birds dance their hearts out. "We have a unique situation," wildlife biologist Curtis Keetch said, "where we have a large population of sage grouse relatively accessible to the public to view." Plus groups involved in Grouse Days are actively working on community based conservation of sagebrush landscapes, which are essential to sage grouse survival. Dubois Grouse Days, in early April, is the work of local citizens, private, state and federal agencies; created to help people see and learn about one of Idaho's unique native birds. The early morning bird watching trip is one part of a two-day adventure. Other activities include photography blinds, presentations about sage grouse and grouse habitat, youth activities, displays by local artists, a raffle, silent auction and banquet dinner. This year, Jim Mosher from the U.S. Department of Interior will speak and answer questions at the Dubois Grouse Days banquet on Saturday evening, April 12. "We make sure you are well fed and well educated," Keetch said. "So, you're well fed physically and mentally and it's just an enjoyable time for everyone from age 5 on up." For more information visit http://www.grousepartners.org/dubois.htm. To buy banquet tickets, register or receive a schedule of events, contact Jeri or Curtis Keetch at 208-374-5422, jtavenner@mudlake.net or ckeetch71@hotmail.com.