Greater sage-grouse are a majestic bird of the American West, treasured by bird watchers and hunters alike. Male sage-grouse engage in impressive mating rituals by puffing up their colorful chests and strutting in front of watching females at common mating areas, called leks.

Sage-grouse are a sagebrush-obligate species, meaning they depend on sagebrush habitat -- including native grasses and wildflowers that grow amidst sagebrush -- during the entire year.

Sage-grouse once occupied 155 million acres of the Sagebrush Sea in the US and Canada; but now are found in about half that area.  Large-scale destruction of sagebrush habitat from agricultural conversions, livestock grazing, energy and infrastructure development, fire and weed invasions, and other forces have contributed to the loss of sage-grouse habitat.

Sage-grouse populations have plummeted with the loss of this habitat, and due to additional factors like the spread of West Nile virus.  Leading scientists estimate that sage-grouse are now less than one-tenth of their historic numbers; and many sage-grouse populations have been extirpated entirely, or are isolated from each other.

Global warming also poses serious threats for sage-grouse.  As the American West gets hotter and drier with climate change, already there are more and larger fires that are destroying sagebrush habitats in places like Nevada and Idaho; and cheatgrass and other weeds are outcompeting native vegetation.  The Bush Administration's rapid escalation of energy development has also decimated core sage-grouse populations in Wyoming and other Rocky Mountain states.

Sage-grouse urgently need protection under the Endangered Species Act, in order to change the suite of forces driving this magnificent species toward extinction.  Saving the sage-grouse will require preserving core areas intact from further degradation by grazing or energy development; and restoring burned or weed-infested areas. Changing outdated land management methods, and adding new programs and policies designed to protect sagebrush habitats from these many threats are also vital.