Wyoming Highlights

• Greater Sage-Grouse: The Greater Sage-Grouse recently was considered for listing under the Endangered Species Act. While it did not warrant the listing based on current science, questions remain about the genetic viability of, and distinctions between, different populations of this bird. Sage grouse currently inhabit 56% of their historic range, leaving some populations isolated from each other. Scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center (Colorado) are completing DNA analysis of Greater Sage-Grouse sampled across their entire range of 11 states (including Wyoming ) and two Canadian provinces. These data will evaluate boundaries between Greater and Gunnison Sage-Grouse populations as well as the two described subspecies of Greater Sage-Grouse. In addition, the data will provide information to help understand gene flow, genetic diversity, and evolutionary history between many additional populations. Collecting the same data across the entire species range makes it possible to make comparisons between all surveyed populations. This helps managers develop species-wide management strategies that take genetic distinctiveness into account based in part upon the entire "genetic landscape" of the species.

• Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat: The Jackson Hole Working Group is one of eight Wyoming Game and Fish Sage-Grouse working groups charged with developing local sage-grouse conservation plans. The Jackson Group’s plan will address sage-grouse conservation in the Upper Snake River Conservation Area. Ecologist Geneva Chong has received funds from Wyoming Game and Fish to study sage-grouse winter habitat in conjunction with Grand Teton National Park, The National Elk Refuge, the Bridger-Teton National Forest, and the Teton Science Schools. Native and non-native plant species composition, cover and height (vegetation structure) were measured in areas known to be used by sage-grouse and will allow managers to understand what vegetation qualities make habitat suitable for sage-grouse winter use which is believed to be a limiting factor for the population, particularly in heavy snow years. Data from this research will help the Working Group prioritize areas for sage-grouse habitat conservation and recognize areas that could be protected or restored to provide additional winter habitat. In addition, data collected for this project are the same as those collected for the Powder River Basin Coalbed Natural Gas research and ongoing non-native species research in the Greater Yellowstone Area, which will allow for regional comparisons and potential extension of the research into the Upper Green River natural gas development area.

• Energy and Land-use Studies in Sagebrush Ecosystems: Even as exploration and development of domestic oil and gas resources has become a national priority, our understanding of the effects of energy development on surrounding ecosystems remains limited. This poses a challenge for wildlife managers and other decision-makers who must strike a balance between maintaining healthy rangelands and wildlife habitat while providing for resource development and multiple public uses. In collaboration with Federal, State, and local partners, several USGS science centers, are jointly conducting interdisciplinary research focusing on these issues at a regional landscape level in the West. Specifically, the Fort Collins Science Center, Bureau of Land Management and others are conducting investigations in south-central Wyoming to assess sagebrush habitat conditions; identify and evaluate the ecological impacts of fire, grazing, and off-highway vehicle use on sagebrush ecosystems; quantify the effects of road use on ungulates; and refine scientific understanding of Sage-Grouse population dynamics and genetics.

• Trumpeter Swans: In the conterminous U.S., only one group of Trumpeter Swans has survived historic overexploitation and habitat loss in the tri-state region of Montana, Idaho, and Wyoming near what is now Red Rock Lakes National Wildlife Refuge.Using DNA sequence and microsatellite analyses, scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center are investigating whether the tri-state flock is genetically different from other flocks across the swan's range. They are also helping decision makers by documenting gene flow and genetic diversity among flocks to determine if they are distinct enough to justify moving birds and eggs between flocks as a part of ongoing restoration efforts.

• Wild horse research: On western rangelands, such as the Pryor Mountain Wild Horse Range, wild horse populations increase at a constant high rate, creating significant management challenges for Bureau of Land Management (BLM) wild horse specialists. Almost every management issue concerning wild horses depends on accurate herd counts. Reliable, science-based population estimates are needed for maintaining everything from herd health to habitat carrying capacity. Scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center are working with the BLM and state agencies personnel to conduct research needed for science-based management decisions concerning herd growth and management. Research includes field trials investigating the efficacy of fertility control treatments as well as any potential behavioral impacts of these treatments. In addition, scientists are testing population estimation techinques to produce more accurate herd counts.

• The Conservation Reserve Program is the largest environmental program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture , with enrollment exceeding 34 million acres across all 50 states. In Wyoming, 281,116 acres on 739 farms are in the CRP. Based on average rental payments, the CRP brings in more than $7.7 million per year to Wyoming’s farm economy. Improvement in program performance is an enduring goal of CRP administrators. For the past 9 years and continuing today, scientists from the Fort Collins Science Center have been working in partnership with the USDA Farm Service Agency to help improve the program evaluating program performance both socially (how is it working for CRP contractees) and ecologically (how is wildlife habitat improved?). In June 2004, FORT and the FSA sponsored a national meeting for more than 200 participants and presenters to address and present research on these issues as well as future CRP directions. The proceedings, The Conservation Reserve Program: Planting for the Future, as published in 2006.

• Brucellosis: Paul Cross together with Wyoming Game and Fish personnel are working to understand the factors that increase the transmission of brucellosis on the elk feedgrounds in the Pinedale and Jackson regions. Initial studies suggest that brucellosis prevalence is associated with length of the feeding season at each feedground. Future studies will investigate how artificial feeding may affect intestinal worm burdens, immunology, and stress.
• Coalbed Natural Gas: The Powder River Basin of Wyoming is experiencing rapid development of coalbed natural gas (CBNG). Geneva Chong is researching the impacts of CBNG extraction on the landscape using an interdisciplinary approach (researchers include: ecologists, geologists, chemists, biogeochemists, hydrologists and geographers). Scientists from the Northern Rocky Mountain Science Center are studying native and non-native vegetation to provide baseline information in support of monitoring landscape-scale changes in vegetation caused by CBNG development impacts such as well pads, pipelines, roads, co-produced water storage reservoirs and discharge streams. Ultimately, vegetation data collected now may be used to direct ecosystem restoration following the exhaustion of the CBNG resource. Along with vegetation studies, scientists are examining distributions of biological soil crusts (microbial communities composed of cyanobacteria, algae, mosses, and lichens), which play important roles such as soil stabilization, water retention, and nutrient fixation in arid systems around the world. The research approach applied in the Powder River Basin should be equally useful for resource management and conservation questions in other areas of gas, oil and mineral extraction.