Grouse Season Takes Hit

Fish & Game cites damage from fire, West Nile virus

By Matt Christensen
Times-News writer

When officials at the Idaho Department of Fish and Game first assessed the aftermath of the Murphy Complex Fire, a blaze that torched more than 1,000 square miles in southern Idaho and northern Nevada, they knew sage grouse were in trouble.

The fire, which was started by lightning July 16, destroyed about 75 grouse mating grounds in prime habitat, according to Dave Parrish, regional supervisor of Fish and Game's Magic Valley office.

Since then, department biologists and wildlife experts have studied the effects of the fire and other factors that have devastated regional grouse populations, and late last week the department made what it called "emergency changes" to grouse hunting rules for this fall.

The season is closed east of the Bruneau River in Owyhee County. North of the Snake River, the season will last just one week, from Saturday until Sept. 21. The limit there is one bird per day.

The fire, though, isn't entirely to blame. Grouse populations are down 50 percent in northern Magic Valley, an area untouched by the Murphy blaze. Officials hint the decline may be related to West Nile virus.

The department closed hunting last year in parts of Owyhee County when the virus wiped out several large populations, and it's possible the virus could be striking Magic Valley birds this year, though officials say the cause of the Magic Valley decline is still unknown.

Monitoring this year has not recorded any sage grouse deaths from West Nile virus in Owyhee County and only one on the Duck Valley Indian Reservation.

Sage grouse are especially vulnerable to West Nile. The virus, carried by mosquitoes, is believed to kill about 90 percent of the birds that contract the virus.

Sage grouse populations have been declining in southern Idaho for decades, long before West Nile reached the area several years ago or large fires of the past three years destroyed habitat.

Though the cause of the long-term decline is unclear, scientists have blamed oil and gas drilling, road building, grazing and residential development.

Despite the finger pointing, the federal government denied a 2004 petition to list the bird as an endangered species. Environmentalists challenged that decision in federal courts, asking a judge to reverse a decision they said was flawed by bad science and political influence by the Bush administration.

In July, U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill, of Idaho, heard oral arguments in the case, and a ruling is pending.

The birds would not be allowed to be hunted should Winmill side with the environmentalists.