Sage-Grouse Working Group

The APLIC Sage-Grouse Working Group was formed to:

• Compile, share and support research related to sage-grouse and utility structures
• Participate in the development of Best Management Practices regarding sage-grouse and power lines.

Development of Best Management Practices (BMPs)

At the fall 2012 APLIC meeting in Great Falls, MT, a one-day sage-grouse workshop was held.  This led to a multi-year effort among APLIC-member utilities, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management, and state wildlife agencies throughout sage-grouse range to develop Best Management Practices for electric utilities in sage-grouse areas.  These BMPs were released in 2015 (see SAGR-BMP-FINALJune-2015.pdf).

Tall Structure Literature Review

In 2010, Utah State University, Utah Wildlife in Need, Rocky Mountain Power, and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources released a comprehensive literature review of sage-grouse and tall structures.

• Final project report: Contemporary Knowledge and Research Needs Regarding the Potential Effects of Tall Structures on Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus and C. minimus) 
• Utah State University tall structures website
• An overview of this effort and an updated literature were recently published by Messmer et al. (2013) in Human-Wildlife Interactions (see http://www.berrymaninstitute.org/htm/human-wildlife-interactions-journal).  This issue of the journal includes many other sage-grouse papers.

Tall Structures Research Protocols

In June 2011, Utah Wildlife in Need (UWIN) released research protocols to assess the impacts of tall structures on sage-grouse.  This effort was a partnership among UWIN, Utah State University, Utah Division of Wildlife Resources, Rocky Mountain Power, Northwestern Energy, Idaho Power Company and APLIC, and numerous sage-grouse experts participated in the development of this document.

• Final project report:  Protocol for Investigating the Effects of Tall Structures on Sage-grouse (Centrocercus spp.) Within Designated or Proposed Energy Corridors

Other Research

• University of Nevada 2010 Progress Report (Falcon-Gondor line):  Dynamics of Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) Populations in Response to Transmission Lines in Central Nevada