CHEYENNE, Wyo. - While biologists and politicians fight over whether the greater sage grouse should be labeled an endangered species, 10 Western states allow hunters to take aim at the reclusive, ground-dwelling bird.

Listing the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act could mean severe restrictions on two mainstays of the West's economy — ranching and the booming oil and gas industry. So if the bird's population has declined so significantly, some question why they are still being hunted.

"It certainly might make sense to try and have every different aspect of the sage grouse life cycle be given as much of a break as possible for a while to allow populations to rebound," said Erik Molvar, executive director of the environmental group Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

But Tom Christiansen, sage grouse program coordinator for the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said hunting has negligible impacts on sage grouse. It is the new subdivisions, energy development and grazing livestock that pose greater threats to the bird because they wipe out habitats, he said.

The Western Watersheds Project, an Idaho-based conservation group, has sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in federal court over the agency's decision not to list the bird as endangered. The conservation group argues the decision was based more on pro-energy politics than science.

Tom Maechtle, of Sheridan, a member of the North American Grouse Partnership, said he hopes sage grouse hunting would still be permitted if the bird becomes protected because many hunters work with landowners to help them understand and conserve the bird's habitat.

"Sportsmen tend to be pretty active in conserving and enhancing bird habitat," he said.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes only two species of sage grouse — the greater sage grouse and the Gunnison sage grouse. The Gunnison is located in parts of Colorado and southeast Utah, and both states prohibit hunting of the bird because their numbers are much less than the greater sage grouse.

The greater sage grouse prefers to be left alone within vast, secluded, high-altitude, open areas dotted with sagebrush, a harsh plant it uses for cover and food. Male grouse are known for their spectacular displays of feathers and pumped up chests during the spring mating season.

Human encroachment in the form of urban growth, roads, agriculture and energy development have reduced its historical habitat to 11 states — Wyoming, Montana, Oregon, Washington, California, Idaho, Utah, Colorado, Nevada, North Dakota and South Dakota. Biologists say drought, predators, wildfires and West Nile virus have exacerbated the problem.

"There's a lot of stresses out there in the environment," said Pat Diebert, a U.S. Fish and Wildlife biologist. As a result, the sage grouse population has been reduced to a fraction of its past numbers, estimated to have been in the millions before Europeans settled in North America.

Counting the bird is difficult and guesses range from about 150,000 to 500,000 nationwide.

Conservationists, who have been fighting to stem oil and gas development and public land grazing throughout the West, argue the bird needs endangered species protection so its numbers can recover.

But the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in 2005 rejected petitions by environmental groups to list the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The agency determined special protections were not warranted because of local and state conservation efforts.

States, fearing federal protections would shut off millions of acres to livestock grazing and energy development, have undertaken initiatives to study the bird and how to improve its habitat.

Last month, a Wyoming panel recommended the state spend $27.3 million to help preserve the sage grouse and its habitat. Oil and gas companies operating in southwest Wyoming have offered some $60 million to monitor wildlife and improve habitat around their gas wells.

States also have cut back hunting seasons and bag limits, but only Washington state has eliminated the practice. Washington has the smallest sage grouse habitat among the 11 states.

This year, Wyoming's season ran from Sept. 22 to Oct 2, and hunters were limited to two grouse a day. California and South Dakota limited their season to just two days, and Idaho closed off areas burned by wildfires this summer. Montana instituted a two-bird bag limit like most other states, but its grouse hunting season was the longest — running from Sept. 1 to Nov. 1.

Many biologists agree that sage grouse can withstand hunting if it is properly regulated.

"There's no link that's ever been scientifically established to suggest that hunting has been a cause for declines," said Christiansen, of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

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