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Sage Grouse Conservation Partnership
February Monthly Mailing (Sent March 16, 2017)
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| State Action Plan The SageCon Staff Implementation Team met March 10, 2017 in Madras. Agenda topics included: - Local Implementation Teams: Lee Foster developed a summary memo of the background / history and status of Local Implementation Teams (LIT’s) and potential recommendations. Follow up will include review of an LIT guiding principles/framework to more clearly define roles, how LIT’s will interact with related conversations (e.g., RAC’s, and causal factor analyses), and outreach / approaches to partnering and soliciting ngo and private landowner input.
- In-Lieu Fee Mitigation Crediting: Pete Baki, ODFW and Sara O’Brien, Willamette Partnership presented considerations for Oregon’s in-lieu fee mitigation program, including the need to pilot credit development. Next steps include developing options for funding credit development, ODFW program rule development, and vetting with larger stakeholder group.
- Coordinated Approach to Monitoring: Megan Creutzberg, Oregon State University Institute for Natural Resources presented a monitoring table / spreadsheet for feedback on how to best coordinate, track and prioritize rangewide monitoring work.
Population- The Oregon Fish and Wildlife Commission plans to review sage grouse hunting season proposals as part of its April 21st meeting in Klamath Falls. It is generally too early for a lek count or population summary, but ODFW’s Dave Budeau will provide an overview of harvest data from 2016 (age and sex composition from wing data) and a brief outlook from ODFW districts for how lek counts are going.
- Sage-grouse lek surveys will begin statewide on March 15th. ODFW conducted the “sage-grouse wingbee” on February 16th, with initial analysis indicating a Chick/Hen ratio of 1.46 for 2016. This is down from 2015, but near the long-term average in Oregon, indicating that populations will likely be stable to slightly increasing this spring. However, that is just a projection based on the subset of areas in the state where sage-grouse are harvested and actual population info. for 2016 and beyond has yet to be finalized.
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| Local Implementation Teams
An LIT meeting was held in Prineville on February 21st and the Baker LIT held a meeting March 9th at the Baker Co. Fairgrounds to discuss the future of sage-grouse in Baker County. Representatives from ODFW and BLM were present to discuss the current threats to the Baker PAC, including BLM’s adaptive management causal factor analysis process, and NRCS, USFWS, and SWCD staff discussed CCAA status and opportunities: http://extension.oregonstate.edu/baker/sites/default/files/march_sagegrouse.pdf.jpg
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| Research/Technical Updates
Dr. Megan Creutzburg will present on “Resilient Sagebrush Landscapes and Climate Change”--covering the unique sagebrush ecosystem and what changes might be expected in the future--on Monday, March 27 at 7 p.m. at Portland's First Congregational Church: https://sagebrushclimatechange.eventbrite.com/
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| Sage Grouse In the News*
*Please Note, these news clipping links don’t represent the totality of sage-grouse-related articles in the news, nor do they represent endorsement of any statements made as part of the story. If you have news stories to share, please pass them along.
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Membership/Distribution List Changes/Requests for Info/Updates
The SageCon Partnership distribution list is maintained to the best of our ability to reflect stakeholder/staffing changes. Please help us stay up to date by reviewing / editing your contact information directly (see link below), and please add your direct phone # if you are willing. Also, please send along additional names of people you know wish to be added to the distribution list. Send info or contact Julia Babcock at: jjb@pdx.edu 503-725-8109 to be added and or with general questions and/or information to be shared in the monthly mailings. To review/edit your information directly, find below a link to the current distribution list: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1-Y2fP04iGkk39cU5VLr9qO_Ce0qDYvl4F_Vvpdj9qu0/edit?usp=sharing
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