Squaring sage grouse with drilling poses feds' toughest test

JONAH GAS FIELD, Wyo. -- The sound of drill rigs and fracking trucks now rules the high desert here. Gone is the mating call of the greater sage grouse, a showy bird that once strutted among blue-green hills puffing its chest and sounding odd rhythmic pops, squeaks and whistles. A decade ago, the Bureau of Land Management approved a Canadian energy firm to drill up to 3,200 gas wells on this scenic patch of lands, with views of the snow-capped Wind River Range. But it was an unusually dense project that fragmented habitat for the several dozen male grouse that danced and sparred here. Today, government biologists report that there are just six male grouse left. The birds gather at a single breeding ground, known as a lek, but have abandoned three other sites here, a couple dozen miles south of Pinedale. The mottled, brown bird faces a panoply of threats across its 11-state range, including wildfire and invasive species in the Great Basin and sod busting in Montana as well as the encroachment of juniper trees, predatory ravens, disease and intensive grazing. But a top threat across much of the sage grouse's eastern range in Wyoming, Colorado, Utah and Montana is energy development -- namely oil and gas. Alleviating those threats will be key if the Fish and Wildlife Service hopes to avoid listing the bird. The science is clear: Sage grouse don't like the sights and sounds of drill rigs, tanks and truck traffic...more