Study finds sage grouse doing better on grazed lands

[Ptah]

Cattle and greater sage grouse seem to be getting along just fine in southeastern Montana, according
to a recent Fish Wildlife and Parks study, and that’s a big deal.

As sage grouse have been listed as a species worthy of protection under the Endangered Species Act,
but precluded by higher priorities for now, western farmers and ranchers have been concerned about
what the implications of such a decision might mean to the way they use the land.

“They’re real worried that if that bird gets listed, the federal government will come in and tell them how
to manage that ground,” said Melissa Foster, an FWP biologist who was the lead author of a four-year
study in Powder and Carter counties.

Environmentalists have long called for the elimination of cattle grazing on public lands where sage grouse
live to preserve habitat for the birds, calling grazing destructive to the hiding cover needed to avoid
predators and to forbs the birds eat.

http://missoulian.com/news/state-and-regional/study-finds-sage-grouse-doing-better-on-grazed-lands/article_ea075b94-d9eb-11e3-bcab-001a4bcf887a.html