The Speaker:  Steven T. Knick, Ph.D., Supervisory Research Ecologist, U.S. Geological Survey, Boise

The Program:  Travelers crossing southern Idaho often view the desert landscape as an endless sea of sagebrush that has changed little since the days of the Oregon Trail.  This impression obscures a more complex and troubling reality.  The greater sage grouse - the emblematic species of the West's sagebrush steppe - and its native sagebrush habitat are in trouble.  Last March, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found that sage grouse had declined to the point that they warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  Although the Service decided that adding the bird to the list of threatened and endangered species was precluded by the need to adress other higher priority species first, its ESA finding served to focus intense public attention on a thirty-inch high bird known for its dramatic breeding displays. 

Dr. Knick will review the primary factors causing the decline of sage grouse populations, many of which were put in place over a century ago by public land policy.  He will also offer his perspective, as a scientist, on the challenge of providing objective science in the hotly contested decisions on whether to list the sage grouse under the ESA.  He will conclude with his thoughts on how sage grouse conservation may influence and be influenced by  public land management policy, human population growth and demands, and predicted climate change.

Speaker Background:  Steve Knick has worked in sagebrush systems for 25 years.  He was a lead scientist providing information for two listing decisions by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service on greater sage grouse.  He is an editor and author of the forthcoming book "Greater Sage-Grouse: Ecology and Conservation of a Landscape Species and its Habitat" that will be published in spring 2011 as a volume in the series Studies in Avian Biology.