Mixed results from sage grouse hunting restrictions

Date:
October 12, 2021
Source:
University of Wyoming
Summary:
Wildlife agencies throughout western North America have set
increasingly more conservative harvest regulations over the past 25
years to conserve sage grouse, with mixed results for bird numbers.



FULL STORY ==========================================================================
A thorough review of the history of sage grouse hunting and populations
across the Intermountain West shows that declines in the bird's numbers
have prompted significant reductions in hunting opportunities in recent
decades -- with mixed results for grouse populations.


========================================================================== Research led by University of Wyoming Professor Jeff Beck and Oregon State University Assistant Professor Jonathan Dinkins, a former UW postdoctoral researcher, examined the history of grouse hunting regulations in 11 U.S.

states and two Canadian provinces -- and the impact of hunting
restrictions on growth rates of the iconic Western species in recent
decades.

The scientists' findings are detailed in two articles published in PLOS
ONE, a journal published by the Public Library of Science. The articles
may be found here and here.

"We found that wildlife agencies throughout western North America have set increasingly more conservative harvest regulations over the past 25 years
to conserve sage grouse," Beck says. "Regarding the effect of hunting
season regulations on population growth rates, we found mixed results."
Sage grouse once numbered in the millions across the Intermountain West,
but rapidly dwindling numbers prompted state wildlife agencies to impose hunting restrictions in the 1930s and 1940s. In the past 50-plus years,
loss and fragmentation of the bird's sagebrush habitat have been the
primary causes of declining grouse numbers, which also are affected
by climatic conditions such as drought and spring snowfall, as well as
disease such as West Nile Virus.

As the federal government has considered several petitions to protect
sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, state wildlife agencies
have responded by reducing hunter bag and possession limits, and hunting
season lengths -- and by setting season start dates later in September to
avoid concentrating hunters on females with young broods. In some cases,
such as for Gunnison sage grouse in Utah and Colorado and greater sage
grouse in Canada and Washington state, they've eliminated grouse hunting altogether -- although that action is less common.

"It appears that, overall, agencies are doing well with adjusting the
timing of hunting seasons, reducing season lengths and maintaining later hunting seasons as supported by previous research," Dinkins says. "Also,
by retaining hunting seasons but lowering bag and possession limits,
agencies continue to bring in important funding for conservation from
hunting permits while ensuring hunter take is limited to sustain
populations." To determine the impact of hunting restrictions on
grouse populations, the researchers compared counts of the birds from 22 distinct population segments on spring breeding grounds, or leks, in nine
U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. They also assessed the impact
of weather conditions; human activity such as oil and gas development;
and habitat loss due to fire.

While there were no overall trends in the impact of hunting restrictions
on grouse numbers, the researchers' findings did align with previous
studies on the impact of human activity, habitat loss, fire and
precipitation.

"Our results suggest that discontinuing harvest in the largest population
(in central Idaho) resulted in greater population growth rates;
however, this was not consistently the case for smaller populations,"
the researchers wrote. "To no surprise, not all sage grouse populations
were influenced by the same environmental change or human disturbance
factors." The researchers say their population trend models will help management agencies better understand patterns and focus conservation
efforts on factors that may lead to increasing adult female survival,
nest success and chick survival.

========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Wyoming. Note: Content
may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal References:
1. Jonathan B. Dinkins, Kirstie J. Lawson, Jeffrey L. Beck. Influence
of
environmental change, harvest exposure, and human disturbance on
population trends of greater sage-grouse. PLOS ONE, 2021; 16 (9):
e0257198 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0257198
2. Jonathan B. Dinkins, Courtney J. Duchardt, Jacob D. Hennig,
Jeffrey L.

Beck. Changes in hunting season regulations (1870s-2019) reduce
harvest exposure on greater and Gunnison sage-grouse. PLOS ONE,
2021; 16 (10): e0253635 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0253635 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2021/10/211012130731.htm

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