Outdoor News Daily

The Department of the Interior will expand efforts with state, local and tribal partners to map lands that are vital to the survival of the greater sage-grouse, a ground-dwelling bird that inhabits much of the West, while guiding and managing new conventional and renewable energy projects to reduce impacts on the species, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar announced today.

Salazar made the announcement in conjunction with a finding by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service that, based on accumulated scientific data and new peer-reviewed information and analysis, the greater sage-grouse warrants the protection of the Endangered Species Act but that listing the species at this time is precluded by the need to address higher priority species first. The greater sage-grouse will be placed on the candidate list for future action, meaning the species would not receive statutory protection under the ESA and states would continue to be responsible for managing the bird.
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Research shows that bobwhite quail numbers across the nation have been in gradual decline since the 1960s, but Oklahoma remains a great holdout for the long-celebrated upland bird.

Despite its location along the western fringe of the bobwhites native range, Oklahoma offers some of the best quail hunting and habitat in the nation including large, contiguous tracts of outstanding mixed grass prairie as well as portions suitable for restoration.

At its March meeting, the Oklahoma Wildlife Conservation Commission heard a presentation from wildlife biologists highlighting efforts to benefit bobwhite quail and fight downward trends.
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The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment’s Becoming an Outdoors-Woman program (BOW), will be hosting a pheasant hunt at Hunters Creek Club in Metamora on March 27, 2010 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The pheasant hunt is designed for women ages 18 and up. Beginners – particularly those who have never bird hunted before – are especially welcome and will receive extra attention and instruction.

The event begins with safety instruction and target practice, followed by lunch in the dining room. After lunch, participants will go to the field for a guided three-bird limit walk-up hunt. There will be three hunters and two guides per field.
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Officials with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Natural Resources Conservation Service on Friday, February 12, signed a landmark conservation agreement to protect sage-grouse in west-central Idaho.

The Candidate Conservation Agreement with Assurances will be the first such agreement for greater sage-grouse anywhere in the bird’s range. Under this agreement, private property owners in the area covered by the agreement who adopt voluntary conservation measures would receive assurances that they would not be subject to increased regulations should sage-grouse be listed under the Endangered Species Act.
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