A 12,000-acre tract in northwest Colorado owned by the State Land Board will become a pilot recovery project for sage grouse and other sage species, state officials said Thursday.
The state Department of Natural Resources, the land board’s parent, has committed $120,000 over five years to improve management of the Baker Peak property, a block of arid brush and grasses near Craig.
On it, biologists have identified “leks,” or the dancing grounds used by mating sage grouse, a chunky, ground-dwelling bird whose population declined dramatically in the 20th century.
Natural Resources director Russell George said the project rose from efforts last year to head off an endangered-species listing for the sage grouse by encouraging ranchers, energy companies and others to start cooperative grouse-conservation projects.
In January, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service declined to list the grouse, but the state is forging ahead, George said. “If we ask others to do more, we need to do more too,” he said.
The property already is leased to a sheep rancher and an energy company. Both have agreed to work with biologists and land managers to improve habitat for grouse, mule deer and other animals, according to Britt Wey gandt, director of the State Land Board.
The land board is charged with generating income for the K-12 school system from the 3 million acres it manages.
Weygandt said she hopes the project not only demonstrates how management can improve habitat, but also that ranching and energy development can co-exist with the recovery of imperiled species.
If successful, the state intends to undertake similar efforts on other lands, Weygandt said.
Once an inventory is completed and grouse habits are known, biologists may try to mow or burn some stands of sagebrush, according to Division of Wildlife spokesman Randy Hampton.
“What they’d be looking for is to create areas of older sage mixed with areas of young sage,” he said.
Staff writer Theo Stein can be reached at 303-820-1657 or tstein@denverpost.com.
