Canadian Ranchers Learn How Montanans Are Improving Sage-Grouse Habitat

A faint beep of the transmitter heard by a few biologists revealed a population of sage-grouse just north of Valley County, Mont. This Montana brood was migrating a remarkable distance—about 155 miles from Saskatchewan to Montana. University of Montana biologist Dave Naugle said the “length of this migrational route is unprecedented for any sage-grouse population in North America and that connectivity was absolute for the survival of this iconic bird.”

On Sept. 22, 2014, Canadian ranchers made a similar trek to tour Montana ranches near Glasgow, Mont., to see how conservation practices have been used to improve sage-grouse habitat. The ranchers were looking to improve their knowledge of best practices for sage-grouse in silver sagebrush ecosystems.  Saskatchewan, Canada and south Valley and Phillips counties in Montana share the migratory corridor for sage-grouse, multiple sagebrush-dependent species, as well as the largest North American migration of antelope.

Natural Resources Conservation Service employees took the ranchers to the Cornwell Ranch where they heard stories about the Cornwells’ ranching operation and what they are doing to save sage-grouse.  Kelsey Molloy, who works for partner groups on sage-grouse projects in the Malta area and recently completed her master’s degree on grassland birds in the Canadian Grassland Park, presented information about her research, habitat requirements and varying amounts of disturbances in relation to individual grassland bird species.  Jody Mason and Pat Gunderson, both with the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), shared information about a recent burn applied to crested wheatgrass and their plans to restore it back to native grasses.  Mason also spoke about NRCS and BLM’s partnership working with ranchers under the Sage Grouse Initiative.  John Fahlgren, sage-grouse partnership employee in Glasgow, discussed the inventory process and what baseline information is important to collect.