Sage Grouse Meeting in Saratoga April 16th 2025

4/7/2025 |

Photo Credit Stacey Jarrett Bigfoot 99

The local Wyoming Game and Fish sage-grouse working group will meet in Saratoga next Wednesday. The focus group, which focuses on sage grouse habitat in south-central Wyoming will meet in the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga on Wednesday, April 16.

Wyoming Game and Fish Sage-Grouse and Sagebrush Biologist Nyssa Whitford explained that the working group will review funding requests for three different projects designed to improve sage-grouse habitat in our area.

In late 2004 and early 2005, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department created eight local sage-grouse working groups with the intention of increasing the population of sage-grouse around the state. The goal of the working groups is to write conservation plans designed to keep the culturally important birds off the endangered species list.

Sage-Grouse Biologist Whitford said the working groups are made up of representatives with connections to the regions they serve.

Whitford said representatives from state and federal agencies, such as Wyoming Game and Fish and the Bureau of Land Management, also serve on the sage-grouse working groups.

Whitford said habitat disruption is the biggest challenge facing sage-grouse in the Cowboy State.

Whitford said the south central sage-grouse working group is focused on combating invasive annual grasses and restoring sage-grouse habitat.

During next Wednesday’s meeting, the working group will review three projects aimed at sage-grouse conservation. Whitford explained that the first proposal is from Wyoming Game and Fish itself. The state agency is asking for $10,000 to help fund the restoration of wet meadow habitats in the Red Rim-Daley area, west of Rawlins.

A “V dike structure” is a V-shaped embankment or barrier designed to manage water flow in a wetland area.

Whitford said the Red Rim-Daley wet meadow restoration project is expected to cost $250,000 in total.

The second funding request comes from the University of Wyoming’s Professor of Wildlife Habitat Restoration Ecology, Dr. Jeffrey Beck. Whitford explained that Dr. Beck and his research team are seeking $26,000 to revisit the Atlantic Rim and study how sage-grouse populations have fared since the completion of energy construction projects in the area.

The third and final funding request the south central sage-grouse working group will consider is the Jungle Well Development Project. Whitford said the Blake Sheep Company, out of Rawlins, is seeking $15,000 to install a solar-powered pump on an existing well, which will provide a stable supply of water to local wildlife.

Game and Fish Biologist Whitford explained that the majority of the local sage-grouse working groups receive $40,000 annually from the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

The south central working group will meet in Saratoga to determine how to allocate its state funding. Whitford said the group is not required to fund any of the proposals and is likely to offer less support to projects capable of finding money elsewhere.

The south-central sage-grouse working group will meet on Wednesday, April 16^th, in the Platte Valley Community Center in Saratoga from 10:00 a.m. to noon. The public is encouraged to attend and will be given an opportunity to comment on the projects.