January 30, 2015
CapitalPress.com
3
Research breakthrough aids sage grouse
Bryan Stevens finds
putting markers on
fences decreases
birds’ mortality
By JOHN O’CONNELL
Capital Press
Photos courtesy of Bryan Stevens
Bryan Stevens sits at an overlook of Salmon Falls Creek Reservoir in Twin Falls County. Stevens
hiked throughout Idaho studying sage grouse collisions with livestock fencing and learned birds can be
protected by placing tags on fences.
Western Innovator
Bryan Stevens
Age: 31
Family: Wife, Char
Hometown: Originally from Shelby,
Ohio
Occupation: Research assistant at Michigan State University and
certified wildlife biologist
Education: Bachelor’s degree in wildlife resources and master’s
degree in wildlife biology and statistics, University of Idaho; pursu-
ing a doctorate in wildlife, Michigan State University
agement plans to benefit the
bird on public grazing allot-
ments.
“He wasn’t just doing sci-
ence. He was doing science and
also had the ability to see the
application and how it could be
used,” Naugle said.
Stevens’ UI master’s degree
advisor, Kerry Reese, and Idaho
Department of Fish and Game
biologist Jack Connelly were
troubled by discoveries of dead
sage grouse near fencing and
saw a need to study the issue.
“I think we were surprised
at how many birds flew into
fences. We didn’t have any idea
of the magnitude of it,” Reese
said.
They hypothesized mark-
ers would be effective based
on prairie chicken research in
Oklahoma.
Stevens started work in the
summer of 2008, hiring tech-
nicians to help him walk hun-
dreds of miles of fence lines in
sage grouse habitat in southeast
and southcentral Idaho. He
discovered the vast majority
of collisions occurred within
0.6 mile of a lek, and seldom
were strikes found beyond 1.2
miles. Furthermore, birds were
far more likely to strike fencing
on flat terrain, where they tend
to fly closer to the ground, than
in hilly areas. Based on those
discoveries, he estimated 6-14
percent of sage grouse habitat
lies within a high-risk area.
In his second year of field
work, he tested the use of mark-
ers to make fencing more visible
and found they reduced sage
grouse collisions by 83 percent.
“A relatively small propor-
tion of the overall landscape
seemed to be high risk,” said
Stevens, who is now research-
ing wild turkeys for a Ph.D.
project at Michigan State Uni-
versity. “Maybe a targeted in-
vestment could be effective at
eliminating the problem.”
Production of his tags has
A tag designed by Bryan
Stevens marks a barbed-wire
fence to protect sage grouse
from collisions.
also provided work for sev-
en employees with mental or
physical disabilities at the COR
Enterprises wood shop in Bill-
ings, Mont. Woodshop manag-
er Tony Braunstadter said his
workers have cut more than
100,000 sage grouse markers
from vinyl siding during the
past few years.
ALFALFA GRASS FARM
Parma, Idaho. Pivot and some hand lines for
irrigation, 55.52 Acres with 49 acres of Black Canyon
water rights. Very comfortable 2007 home, 1,920 sq.
ft., 4 bdrm, 2 bath, central air, wood stove, detached
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Dan Coleman, GRI
(541) 212-1984
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MOSCOW, Idaho — Nat-
ural Resources Conservation
Service officials in 11 Western
states are well versed in Bryan
Stevens’ research, which they
routinely use to help ranchers
protect sage grouse populations
on private range.
Stevens, 31, conducted the
first scientific study document-
ing sage grouse mortality due to
collisions with livestock fenc-
ing for his University of Idaho
master’s thesis in wildlife biol-
ogy. He also identified a simple
method to protect the native
birds — placing vinyl markers
covered with reflective tape ev-
ery 3 feet along fences in high-
risk areas.
Leaders with the NRCS-led
Sage Grouse Initiative found
Stevens’ work so useful they
covered his tuition for a second
UI master’s degree in statistics.
NRCS provided Stevens data
from several Western states on
known sage grouse leks — ar-
eas where males perform elabo-
rate mating dances and females
stay to nest — which he used to
create color-coded maps quanti-
fying the risk posed by fencing.
In 2013, Stevens said NRCS,
working with willing landown-
ers to help avert an endangered
species listing, used his maps to
remove or mark more than 500
miles of fencing in high-risk
sage grouse habitat.
Dave Naugle, a University
of Montana wildlife biology
professor and SGI’s national
science advisor, said the tool
should also play a role in man-
www.dancolemanrealestate.com
dan@dancolemanrealestate.com
HARDY from Page 1
Hardy was elected president
of the NPC, a grower-funded
organization that works to pro-
tect growers’ best interests. He
has also served in several oth-
er leadership roles, including
chairman of the U.S. Potato
Board, whose mission is to pro-
mote potato consumption.
“I heard a long time ago the
world is run by those who show
up,” he said.
The two organizations are
“absolutely” important for po-
tato growers and the industry,
he said.
With their help, U.S. potato
exports have grown from 10
percent of production in 2000
to 17 percent today, and there’s
plenty of potential for more
growth, he said.
That takes not only pro-
motion but work in the reg-
ulatory and trade arenas as
well, and the latter is where
NPC comes in.
With a staff and presence in
Washington, D.C., NPC is able
to respond quickly to any legis-
lative, regulatory or trade issues
that arise, he said.
“Those who don’t have a
voice are going to be controlled
by those who want to control
them,” he said.
NPC has the clout to oper-
ate within Capitol Hill circles
and get things accomplished, he
said.
“The grower sitting back
here at home has no voice in
that, but through the Council
they do,” he said.
NPC was successful in keep-
ing potatoes in the school lunch
program, derailing an effort to
limit potatoes to one serving a
week. It continued to work on
getting white potatoes approved
for the Women, Infants and
Children nutrition program and
H ANSON A UCTION
to gain access to all of Mexico
for U.S. fresh potatoes, he said.
Gaining more access to
Mexico, with its 100 million
people, was important, especial-
ly for Idaho, he said.
Through NPC, the potato in-
dustry is well positioned to have
an impact on agricultural policy,
but more growers need to be in-
volved. Agriculture as a whole
needs to be more involved, he
said.
“We have a positive story to
tell, and we better start telling
it,” he said.
As the ag and rural popula-
tion wanes, so does agriculture’s
political voice, he said.
“If we have issues, legisla-
tion or regulation, we better be
speaking up because no one else
is going to,” he said.
He encourages growers to
stay abreast of the issues, voice
their support for their industry,
and be proactive with the public.
While grower presence at
the national level is important,
growers at home can also be
involved through petitions to
Congress available on NPC’s
website, donations to the organi-
zations fighting on their behalf,
writing blogs and editorials,
hosting tours of their farm or
speaking to grocery retailers,
consumers and neighbors, he
said.
The future for U.S. potatoes
is bright, especially where ex-
ports are concerned.
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NPC has clout to operate within Capitol Hill circles
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