BLM Pinedale Field Office conducts Greater Sage-grouse flights
by Bureau of Land Management
January 23, 2011
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Pinedale Field Office (PFO) is conducting daily helicopter flights to survey for Greater Sage-grouse.
Flights over the Pinedale Anticline Project Area (PAPA) and some control areas are completed annually in order to meet the monitoring requirements set forth in the Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) Record of Decision (ROD) Wildlife Monitoring and Mitigation Matrix. These flights establish a baseline of winter concentration areas within the PAPA and control areas.
In addition, survey flights over the Normally Pressured Lance and LaBarge project areas will provide valuable data for use in each project’s EIS.
Generally, data is collected by flying 0.5 mile transects at low levels to detect wintering flocks of sage-grouse. Flight data, telemetry data, research data, and ground observation data are all used to determine what habitats are being frequented by the birds in winter. Over multiple years, an accurate picture of winter concentration areas emerges and this information is then used to delineate winter habitat in coordination with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.
Flights will continue through January and into February.
For more information, please contact Rusty Kaiser at 307-367-5317 or visit the BLM Pinedale Field Office at 1625 W. Pine St., Pinedale, Wyoming.
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