BLM tells field offices: Mark fences for grouse
Mead GruverThe U.S. Bureau of Land Management is telling its field offices to mark certain fences and wind-turbine guy wires to make them more visible to sage grouse, sharp-tailed grouse and lesser prairie chickens.
Studies have shown that guy wires and barbed-wire fences can be deadly to birds that fly into them without seeing them.
Land managers and environmentalists are particularly concerned about the sage grouse, a hen-sized game bird that is being considered for protection under the Endangered Species Act.
A directive from the BLM in Washington, D.C., earlier this month tells state BLM offices to evaluate fences for their risk to sage grouse and put markers in place where appropriate.
The environmental group Environmental Defense Fund is praising the action.