A male sage grouse struts in its annual spring mating ritual in the Shirley Basin. Sage grouse can be found over much of the state. Star-Tribune file photo.
Sage grouse gather in the early morning as part of their spring mating behavior earlier this week near Hat Six Road outside of Casper. (Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune)
A male sage grouse takes flight with natural gas drilling rigs in the distance south of Pinedale earlier this year. Current rules prevent drilling within a quarter mile of grouse breeding areas; two conservation groups have filed a petition to extend that distance to two miles. Photo by Mark Gocke, Star-Tribune correspondent.
A male blue grouse offers a showy display in hopes of gaining breeding rights to nearby females. Photo by Mark Gocke, Star-Tribune correspondent.
Wild horse advocate Marshall Dominick, far right, discusses a project to create a wind-driven well that feeds a stock watering tank that also provides water to sage grouse and other birds in the McCullough Peaks. (Ruffin Prevost/The Billings Gazette)
Tim Kupsick, Star-Tribune Roy Roath, extension range specialist for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, notes the height of some sage brush he has witnessed around Wyoming and Colorado.
A small collection of sage grouse strut and puff during the annual mating ritual. Males blow up a sack on their neck and make a unique sound while trying to attract a mate. (Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune)
A lone male sage grouse displays at a strutting ground, or lek, with natural gas drill rigs in the distance south of Pinedale last spring. (Mark Gocke, Star-Tribune correspondent)
Two sage grouse perform their annual mating display at the Hat Six Lek east of Casper earlier this month. The number of birds in their once-popular mating ground have been decreasing in recent years. (Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune)
Wyoming Game and Fish biologist Justin Binfet holds a male sage grouse after netting it on a lek near Powder River late one night last week while Casper game warden Daniel Beach prepares to radio collar the bird. Binfet and Beach are helping University of Wyoming graduate student Cheryl Mandich collar the birds as part of the Western Natrona County Sage Grouse Distribution Project. Mandich is conducting the study to monitor the seasonal movements of the birds. Photo by Kerry Huller, Star-Tribune
Raise grouse in captivity? Proposed state rules draw opposition
Wyoming Game and Fish biologist Justin Binfet holds a male sage grouse after netting it on a lek near Powder River late one night last week while Casper game warden Daniel Beach prepares to radio collar the bird. Binfet and Beach are helping University of Wyoming graduate student Cheryl Mandich collar the birds as part of the Western Natrona County Sage Grouse Distribution Project. Mandich is conducting the study to monitor the seasonal movements of the birds. Photo by Kerry Huller, Star-Tribune
Two sage grouse perform their annual mating display at the Hat Six Lek east of Casper earlier this month. The number of birds in their once-popular mating ground have been decreasing in recent years. (Dan Cepeda, Star-Tribune)
A male sage grouse performed his ‘strut’ during which he rapidly inflates and deflates air sacs in his neck, paces in a circle and makes special noises — all designed to get the attention of potential mates in this file photo from April 2008. It was taken roughly 17 miles southwest of Rawlins. (Jerret Raffety/The Rawlins Daily Times file via AP)
Sage grouse strut at sunrise in Sublette County in this April 2006 file photo. A recent report filed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department suggests several sage grouse are dying as a result of colliding with thousands of miles of barbed-wire fences in the West. (Jim Laybourn/Star-Tribune correspondent)
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