Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus): a technical conservation assessment

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The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (CSTG) is one of six existing subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse in North America. It is endemic to big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata), shrubsteppe, mountain shrub, and riparian shrub plant communities of western North America. The subspecies currently occupies less than 10% of its historic range, with only three metapopulations remaining in central British Columbia, southeastern Idaho and northern Utah, and northwestern Colorado and south-central Wyoming. Within Region 2 of the USDA Forest Service (USFS), this grouse formerly occurred in as many as 22 counties in western Colorado and portions of 11 counties in west-central, southwestern, and south-central Wyoming. Today, viable populations occur in only three counties in Colorado and one in Wyoming. Attempts are being made to reintroduce CSTG to previously occupied habitats in southwestern and north-central Colorado. Approximately 68% of the occupied habitat in Region 2 is on private lands, and only 4% is on lands administered by the USFS. The CSTG has been petitioned twice for listing under the Endangered Species Act. Under both petitions, the finding was not warranted. USFS Region 2 and the state offices of the Bureau of Land Management in Colorado and Wyoming have designated the CSTG a sensitive species. Both the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and Colorado Division of Wildlife list it as a species of special concern. Threats to CSTG are widespread across its range in Region 2, occur at all spatial scales, and transcend local, state, and regional jurisdictions. Many of the threats are inter-related and synergistic in their impacts on CSTG. Even when the threats are not related, their impacts tend to be cumulative. The primary threats are all human-related. Foremost are habitat loss and degradation caused by conversion of native habitats to pasture and croplands, overgrazing by domestic livestock, energy development, use of herbicides to control big sagebrush, alteration of natural fire regimes, invasion of exotic plants, and urban and rural expansion. Possible loss of Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) lands is the single most important immediate threat to CSTG in Region 2 and elsewhere throughout the subspecies’ range. Currently, CRP lands support 21% of the known active leks in Region 2, and many CRP fields provide critical nesting and brood-rearing habitats for CSTG. Nearly 70% of all CRP contracts within the occupied range of CSTG in Region 2 are scheduled to expire by 2010, and there are strong indications that Congress will not include provisions in the 2007 Farm Bill for their renewal. What will become of these lands if the contracts are allowed to expire is uncertain, but it is likely that their value as habitat for CSTG will diminish. Livestock grazing is the dominant use on public and private lands within the occupied range of CSTG in Region 2. While grazing levels have declined in Region 2, grazing continues to be an issue because lands subjected to past overgrazing have not been rested and given the opportunity to recover. Until recently, oil and gas development was not considered a threat to CSTG in Region 2. However, with oil and gas prices reaching all-time highs and with strong support from the current political administration, oil and gas exploration and development have increased dramatically throughout the West. This activity has expanded into the core range of CSTG in Region 2. Impacts of oil and gas development include direct habitat loss and fragmentation from well, road, and pipeline construction; displacement (i.e., avoidance behavior) of individuals caused by excessive human activity; increased avian predation due to the construction of artificial perch sites; and increased mortality due to collisions with utility lines and vehicles. The most essential component of habitats used by CSTG during winter in Region 2 is the presence of serviceberry (Amelanchier spp.), the primary food source for CSTG from late fall through early spring. Any activity that reduces distribution and abundance of serviceberry may have negative consequences to CSTG. The keys to successful management of CSTG in Region 2 are protection and enhancement of existing habitats and restoration of habitats that are no longer occupied or are severely degraded. The natural processes that perpetuate the habitats upon which CSTG rely have been significantly disrupted by human activities and are no longer intact. Consequently, in most situations, some form of human intervention is necessary to correct the problems. This may be as simple as eliminating the activity causing the problem and allowing the plant community to recover on its own, or it may involve extensive restoration of the plant community. Protection and management of native cover types should receive top priority. There should be no net loss of sagebrush, shrubsteppe, or mountain shrub cover types in Region 2. Some of the same activities responsible for the loss and degradation of shrubsteppe and mountain shrub habitats also may be used to enhance and restore these habitats when properly applied. These activities include prescribed fire, grazing, use of herbicides, and mechanical treatments. Managers must be acutely aware that multiple factors affect CSTG populations, and they should consider the cumulative effects of these factors when formulating any future management actions.

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ELECTRONIC FILE - Zoology

Suggested Citation: Hoffman, R.W. and A.E. Thomas. (2007, August 17). Columbian Sharp-tailed Grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus): a technical conservation assessment. [Online]. USDA Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region. Available at: http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/columbiansharptailedgro... [date of access].

SWAP (2/19/2016) citation:
Hoffman RW, Thomas AE. 2007. Columbian sharp-tailed grouse (Tympanuchus phasianellus columbianus): a technical conservation assessment. [place unknown]: US Forest Service, Rocky Mountain Region, Eastside Ecosystems Management Strategy Project. [accessed 2015 Jun 1]. http://www.fs.fed.us/r2/projects/scp/assessments/columbiansharptailedgro...