I just joined the list a couple of days ago, and for three days now I have
seen the thread concerning Sage Grouse. There are a couple of points that I
would like to make concerning them since I live in the area that used to
have the main population for Oregon.
First I am a pilot that has a STOL airplane. (Short takeoff and landing)
and the area that I fly a lot is from the Oregon Border North to the Mann
Lake Rd. West to the Alvord, South and East to the Idaho Border. I fly it a
lot and since it is generally uninhabited, I fly it at low level. I moved
here in 2006, and the Grouse numbers were quite high. I am also a falconer,
and the main reason that I moved here was because of the Grouse and other
game birds. My falcon and I killed one Grouse since coming here in 2006. I
have never hunted them again. There just isn't enough of them to justify it.
There was a mention last night that the peak Grouse rate was in 2007, and
has dropped significantly since then. If you recall that was when the first
wave of West Nile swept through the region. The ranch right across the road
from me was searched by ODFW and I have heard reports that they found
somewhere in the area of 125 dead Grouse there on the Ranch. The Mosquito's
affected all the game birds, but Grouse apparently cannot develop an
immunity to the virus. The last I noticed was that last year about 12
Grouse over wintered there. This last winter they might have increased to
20 or so.
I guess the main prod that causes me to comment on this thread, is that it
appears to me that almost every one, when the Grouse decline is mentioned
seems the think that the main reason that Grouse are declining is because
of Cattle. From my experience Cattle are the least of the Grouse's worries.
The first thing said on this discussion is over grazing. I am sure that
somewhere this might be the case, but it doesn't apply in the area that I
have described. Let me assure you that the only beef that I own is in my
freezer, so I really don't have a dog in this fight, but I would like to
think that maybe I could get you to look a bit below the surface at the
things that are not so obvious.
I have observed since coming to this country wild fires, that took out
194,000 acres of winter range for the Grouse on the Owyhee rim out of Rome.
Then 90 square miles of habitat that begins about 12 miles South of Burns
Jct all the way to McDermitt and SE to the Nevada Border. This I blame on
the BLM. They stood around on both fires until it got big enough to fight.
This land will not be Grouse habitat again for another 40 or 50 years. It
burned hot enough that there is only stubble left. Yes they replanted it,
but they will not let Cows on it to graze for three years. By that time the
Cheat grass will so well established that almost nothing else will grow.
After that one lightning strike in July or August, and the whole thing will
blow up again.
Then what I believe to be almost as bad is the Ravens. The Raven population
has blossomed exponentially. With a life span of 21 years, they are one of
the smartest birds ever living. When you learn that the average clutch of
Grouse survivors is about 1 1/4 birds, it doesn't take many Ravens to tip
the scales. Lets face it, Grouse are on a delicate balance to begin with
and Raven's eating their eggs can cut pretty deep into an already teetering
balance.
The ranch by me has the grazing rights to about 1/2 million acres. They own
about 600 cows. The next grazing section is located about 1/2 way between
Hwy 95 and the Alvord Lake. That part is controlled by the Alvord Ranch. I
don't know how many cattle they have, but I rarely see any of them when I
fly to the Alvord. My point to all this trivia is that it would take some
serious effort to overgraze any of this land. There are several springs in
the Sheep heads, but the biggest supply of water is from Dugouts. I can't
say who put them in, but my guess is the Ranchers themselves did it. The
BLM ran out of money last year for the "wild horses". They contributed
nothing.
The ranches in the area I have described all have water trucks. A cow will
graze the area abut 6 miles around a water source. So they place their
water troughs in an area, and when the cows graze it to a point, they move
the water, and the cows to a new area. Of course the horses benefit from
this as well. Last year there was well over a hundred in the Sheep heads
sharing that water with the cows. Coming from the West side of Oregon, I
had a hard time understanding how a cow could live out there on the Desert.
So when the food gets down, the Cows are moved or they starve and lose
weight. You can bet no rancher would want that, so I have never witnessed
"over grazing" here. They run water all year long.
The vegetation in this area is described by me as weeds. Cows seem to have
learned to eat it, everything from Russian Thistle (
tumbleweeds). We have been having a pretty severe drought here for the last
4 or 5 years. In July and August we have Dry lightning almost every
evening. The normal rainfall for this area is about 4.5 inches a year. I
see little fire spots that burn perhaps a 2 or 300 yard area, then go out.
The Sage is left and the area benefits. Those are areas that have been
grazed. If the weeds are not eaten down the the fire load is doubled and
the fire has a chance to reach enough size that it doesn't go out and can
burn 90 square miles.
This is way too long, and I apologize for it, but the subject matter is way
deeper than "take all the cows off the desert". One of the more interesting
facts is that if you want to find Grouse, look for the Cows. They will be
among them. I believe that the reason that the Grouse are with the cows is
that the babies benefit from the seeds that the cows do not digest, and the
bugs that are always around the cows, and their droppings. There will
generally be an Eagle resting nearby as well.
Larry Cottrell
--
*The older I get, the less tolerant I am of those who are intolerant.*
*If you forward this email, or any part of it, please remove my email
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