2011-06-23 Rapid Decline of the Greater Sage-Grouse in Alberta
In this article from the April 2011 Wild Lands Advocate, University of Alberta professor Mark Boyce details the desperate decline of Alberta's sage-grouse population. "The Greater sage-grouse is highly sensitive to disturbance, and in a recent study of winter habitat selection in Alberta we found strong avoidance of gas wells and associated developments."
The Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is one of a number of species with a distribution primarily south of the border extending into southern Canada. Populations further south in the United States are more secure but at the northern extent of their distribution the species is desperately endangered. We’ve already lost sage-grouse from British Columbia even after a failed attempt to reintroduce them. And they’re quickly on their way out in Alberta...
