Safer Fencing Can Help Save Western Birds

An inexpensive opportunity exists to reduce the hazard to the greater sage grouse and lesser prairie chicken from wire fencing

Posted: 27-Jan-2009; Updated: 03-Feb-2009

Safer Fencing Can Help Save Western Birds

Fencing improvements could help keep the greater sage grouse (top) and lesser prairie chicken off the endangered species list. (Photos: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service,
© Jacob S. Spendelow, Tringa.org)

Download EDF analysis

Full analysis [PDF - 1.4 MB]
Miles of BLM Fencing Constructed by State and Year [PDF - 264 KB]
Miles of USDA-Funded Fencing During 2005-2008 in Counties Where Sage Grouse or Lesser Prairie Chicken Live [PDF - 256 KB]
USDA Fencing Data
County and Year Breakdowns
- Greater sage grouse [PDF - 2.3 MB]
- Lesser prairie chicken [PDF - 1 MB]

In 2009 the Obama Administration will decide whether to propose to add the greater sage grouse, and its cousin the lesser prairie chicken, to the nation's endangered species list.

Endangered species listing could hurt economies

Few decisions under the Endangered Species Act are likely to be as consequential for the West. The listing of either bird could have far-reaching economic and developmental consequences and stir up a cauldron of controversy.

Our experts' new analysis [PDF] shows that one significant threat to these birds, dangerous wire fencing, could be dramatically reduced by adding simple, inexpensive reflectors or flagging to the fences. Reflectors could be added for a cost of about $200 per mile of fencing, only two percent more than the current cost.

Unfortunately, the two federal agencies that finance and build the fencing—the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS)—have been inadvertently making the problem worse by creating unadorned fences that the birds can't see.

Safer fencing would have quick effects

Reducing the hazard from fencing can produce immediate benefits for sage grouse and lesser prairie chicken conservation.

Few conservation actions can produce benefits as quickly, and few conservation actions could demonstrate any more clearly that the time has come to move from talking about reducing threats to these birds to actually doing it.

Greater sage grouse facts

Source: Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies, Conservation Assessment of Greater Sage-grouse and Sagebrush Habitats (2004)

Range: The Sagebrush steppe region of the western plains, including parts of eleven states and two Canadian provinces

Habitat: Closely associated with large woody sagebrushes of western North America

Mating System: Males gather in the spring at "leks" where they compete for females with elaborate "dances" and vocalizations

Vulnerability to Fences: Fence collisions accounted for 18% of deaths in one Utah study

Pace of Fence Construction: NRCS averages roughly 750 miles of new fence construction annually in counties with sage grouse populations. BLM has built nearly 2,700 miles of fencing in states with sage grouse populations since the species was petitioned for federal protection

Lesser prairie chicken facts

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, 2008 Candidate Assessment – Lesser Prairie Chicken (2008)

Range: The Southern High Plains of the United States, including parts of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, Colorado, and New Mexico

Habitat: Prefers mixed sand sagebrush or shinnery oak-grasslands

Mating System: Males gather in the spring at "leks" where they compete for females with elaborate "dances" and vocalizations

Vulnerability to Fences: Fence collisions accounted for 39.8% of deaths in Oklahoma and 26.5% of deaths in New Mexico, according to one study

Pace of Fence Construction: NRCS averages nearly 300 miles of new fence construction annually in counties with lesser prairie chicken populations

Right strategy to protect Western birds and economies

Reducing the frequency of collisions with fences is not likely to be sufficient by itself to guarantee the security of these two iconic Western birds, but it is an action that will have quick results.

Restoring degraded habitat in the semi-arid West will take years to produce results, but reducing the hazard from fencing can produce immediate benefits for sage grouse and lesser prairie chicken conservation.