Imagine driving through the dark, snowy desert, the sagebrush peeking out from under the snow, the headlights off, and the only light for navigation is the spotlight expertly wielded by Nathan Muhn, an Idaho Department of Fish & Game field technician, with rock & roll blaring from the speakers taped to the hood of a truck. Last Thursday, that is exactly what the scene was like when we were searching for the elusive Greater Sage-Grouse, the target of a current study in the desert south of Picabo, Idaho.

I joined Nathan, along with two other volunteers, for an evening of trapping Greater Sage-Grouse in order to radio collar the birds. The goal of the study is to radio collar some of the grouse in the desert south of Picabo and to use their GPS locations to study the population’s movements and distribution in relation to the proposed airport site in the area.

So, meeting at 8:30 PM, Nathan described what we would be doing all night – until 4:30 in the morning. We would be driving through the desert on snow-covered roads, searching for Greater Sage-Grouse with a high-powered spotlight. In order to cover the sound of the truck and of us, we have attached speakers blaring music to the front hood of the truck. When we spot a Greater Sage-Grouse, Nathan shines the light on the bird, causing it to freeze and the driver speeds the truck directly at the bird.

This is when it gets exciting! The two netters hop off the truck and sprint alongside, waiting until the truck comes right up to the grouse, then net the Greater Sage-Grouse, ensuring that it doesn’t escape. With the Greater Sage-Grouse captured, we attach a radio collar to the bird and put an identification band on its leg. We ended up catching four Greater Sage-Grouse over the course of the evening: 3 females and one male. They are big birds, and the male was especially large. These birds are built for winter cold; their legs are completely covered in feathers – unlike a chicken’s – and they have interesting little grips on their toes. Pretty cool!

Needless to say, I was cold and tired when I crawled into bed at 5:30 on Friday morning. But, field biology can be fun and fascinating, and these Greater Sage-Grouse are a crucial member of the sagebrush ecosystems here in central Idaho. So, understanding them a little bit better seems like a great idea.

Male Greater Sage-Grouse displaying

Lava Lake Science & Conservation board meeting out at Murdock Corral (Winter 2004)

Justin Stevenson and I went out into the field yesterday to continue work on Lava Lake Institute for Science & Conservation’s work with the Wildlife Conservation Society on the migration patterns of pronghorn. The project has been examining the movements of pronghorn via radio collars that were attached to several individuals previously. Our task was a to find and recover the four radio collars that had been transmitting mortality signals.

We headed east of Arco to the sage flats of the Idaho National Laboratory, largely a nuclear research center of the Department of Energy, to recover the collars. We had an extremely successful day and found and collected all four collars. Bryan Bybee, of Gonzalez Stoller Surveillance, was indispensable to us as he was familiar with the area and expertly navigated us within a short distance of each collar’s location. Sadly, the collars collected were from pronghorn that had perished, but hopefully the data we collect from these collars will help us to better understand the habits of this unique animal.

Justin Stevenson and Bryan Bybee

Ross Brennan and Bryan Bybee

As part of the NRCS Sage Grouse Initiative Lava Lake is currently working with the Idaho Department of Fish and Game and NRCS to restore sagebrush steppe habitat on the Ranch. Our goal is to improve sagebrush habitat to benefit sage grouse and other wildlife.

Lava Lake Employees Tim Bennett and Melendez Orihuela refilling the seeding hopper

The treatment involves the use of a Lawson Aerator, generously loaned to us by the Salmon office of the BLM, a tool we have never used before and were eager to try out. The aerator/seeder is pulled behind our tractor and will thin sagebrush cover and seed forbs (e.g., wildflowers).  We’re working in areas identified to have overly dense sagebrush cover to promote a a healthy sagebrush plant community with a diverse mix of plants including sagebrush, forbs and bunchgrasses.

Fall is here and with that brings a flurry of wildlife habitat restoration work. Fall is the time for riparian and wetland restoration, because the work is best done when these areas are at their driest. Months of planning work are now being translated into the delicate and not so delicate maneuvers of what my son calls vroom vrooms. Big machines are out at the Lava Lake Main Ranch, continuing the work we started in 2008. This year, we’re converting an old irrigation ditch into a natural stream channel along Barn Creek, at the entrance to Lava Lake right on the edge of the lava flows.

We’ve also created two small ponds to enhance two springs that are located right in the mix of our irrigated hayfields. These ponds have nesting islands built into them to attract nesting ducks and other waterbirds. We will be seeding these areas with native plants this fall and following up with plantings next spring. We have to keep in mind that these things take time, the new plantings will take a few growing seasons to establish and flourish, and right now things look disturbed and definitely not complete.

We are looking forward to watching as the habitat diversity on the ranch continues to expand. Finally, we are so grateful to our many partners on the project. This year we’ve been working with the Idaho Department of Environmental Quality, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, and the Idaho Department of Fish and Game.

Later this season, we’ll report back on our sagebrush habitat restoration that is planned for October in Fish Creek.

Barn Creek restoration in progress

Craters of the Moon National Monument & Preserve