Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are sagebrush obligates and are therefore considered to be key indicators of sagebrush ecosystem health. Sage-grouse populations have declined range-wide over the last century due to loss and fragmentation of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitats. Sage-grouse populations found in large intact sagebrush landscapes are considered to be more resilient, however, some small isolated populations persist and thrive in fragmented landscapes. Because of Utah’s unique topography and geography, sage-grouse habitat is discontinuous and populations are naturally dispersed throughout the state in suitable intact blocks or in disconnected islands of sagebrush habitat. Thus, Utah populations provide the ideal place to understand how landscape attributes may influence at risk populations. Of these, the Morgan-Summit population is important because very little was known about the general ecology of this population and it experiences a high level of anthropogenic disturbances. I examined seasonal movement patterns, habitat selection, vital rates (nest initiation rates, nest success, clutch size, breeding success, brood success, and survival probability of breeding age birds) and the influence of vegetation components on vital rates of a small geographically isolated sage-grouse population in Morgan and Summit Counties in northern Utah from 2015–2016. To collect the data, I deployed 25 very-high frequency radio collars and 10 platform terminal transmitters and completed micro-site vegetation surveys at nest, brood, and paired random sites and then made comparisons. Nest sites exhibited variation in vegetation structure that influenced nest success, while brood sites did not. This population is one of the most productive in Utah exhibiting high nest initiation rates, hatching rates, and brood success rates despite limited habitat space and small seasonal movements. Transmitter type had no influence on vital rates, which is contrary to other studies, and limited influence on habitat selection. Sage-grouse avoided trees and developed areas, especially during the breeding season. Selection of other landscape variables was season-dependent. This information suggests that a sage-grouse population can occupy areas of limited habitat on an annual basis if seasonal habitat requirements are met. This study provides information that stake holders can utilize to conserve critical seasonal habitats within this study area where the population could be negatively affected by anthropogenic development pressure.

This dissertation examines the operation of neoliberal environmentality through the instrumentalization of the Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in Wyoming. It treats technological interventions within environmental construction as generating biotic-machinic entanglements termed technonature. I present the formation and operation of the Wyoming Conservation Exchange as a case study of technonatural territorialization connected to global trona and hydrocarbon commodity flows. The theoretical framework elaborates how "the environment" is constructed and governed through tactical instrumental deployments connected to technocratic management allowing economically powerful actors to inscribe their desires within Wyoming's landscape, politics and biota as a function of environmental security related to commodity development. The question motivating this work is "Whose environment is the Environmental Defense Fund defending?" The Greater Sage-grouse has become an object of U.S. Federal environmental governance since the late 1990's. It has experienced significant population declines due to anthropogenic disturbance and habitat loss through industrial action across its range. Wyoming's Sagebrush Steppe contains 37.5% of the remaining range wide population. The grouse was listed as a candidate species under the 1973 U.S. Endangered Species Act triggering responses from Federal, State, and international wildlife management agencies, as well as environmental non-governmental organizations. Wyoming could lose nearly a quarter of its surface should Federal regulations require the designation of critical sage-grouse habitat. Governor Dave Freudenthal signed Executive Order 2008-2 into law in response to the regulatory threat to Wyoming's hydrocarbon and mineral based economy. The grouse, in response was de-listed as a candidate species in 2015 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. EO 2008-2 established the Wyoming Core Area Strategy as a statewide conservation umbrella and laid the framework for a habitat mitigation economy allowing industrial activity to continue within sage-grouse habitat. This incentivized the Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) to test a market-based instrument – a habitat exchange – within Wyoming. The Greater Sage-grouse is a test species as it is highly sensitive to changes in its environment and this dissertation examines how the habitat mitigation economy advanced by EDF is drawing the grouse into global commodity networks as a territorialization process for global flows of hydrocarbons and minerals. At stake is the ability to write the history of the species, land, and the global environment as EDF develops conservation technologies prioritizing flows critical to the hydrocarbon environment through the technology of the Wyoming Conservation Exchange. / Doctor of Philosophy / The Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) entered Euro-American scientific study as early as the Lewis and Clark expedition as they explored the Intermountain region of Western North America. The first thorough scientific study of the sage-grouse in the 20th Century, The Sage Grouse in Wyoming, by Dr. Robert Lansing Patterson included the effects of anthropogenic disturbance on grouse populations. Since the 1952 publication of Patterson's study, Greater Sage-grouse numbers have been declining as the bird loses its home to encroachments such as urbanization, agriculture, grazing, mining, and fossil fuel extraction. The last stronghold of the grouse is the Sagebrush Steppe within Wyoming containing nearly 40% of the remaining population. Known for its flamboyant mating displays, the ground-dwelling avian species has become a political flashpoint in conservation, land management, and environmental circles as its numbers declined steadily since the 1990's due to an accelerating energy boom threatening its habitat. The bird became a threat to extractive industry in Wyoming at the turn of the Millennium as environmentally concerned groups petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (UFWS) to evaluate its populations under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Nearly a quarter of Wyoming's surface would be strictly policed as critical habitat were the grouse listed as endangered or threatened under the ESA. Wyoming and its partners created the Wyoming Core Area Protection Strategy (CAP) as a wildlife management framework through Executive Order 2008-2. The Wyoming CAP includes the foundation of a habitat mitigation economy allowing industry to trade surface disturbances within critical sage-grouse habitat for modified land purportedly to the benefit of the species. The Nature Conservancy invited the Environmental Defense Fund to form the Wyoming Conservation Exchange – a market-based conservation instrument tailored to trading in habitat mitigation credits. This dissertation studies the Wyoming Conservation Exchange as an instrument connected to larger networks of wildlife management agencies, non-governmental organizations, and mining and fossil fuel interests. It evaluates the effects of the Wyoming Conservation Exchange and the economy it seeks to establish as changing how the environment is managed across the Sagebrush Steppe. Environmental Defense Fund's conservation instrument is reviewed through the economy created for and through the Greater Sage-grouse as an object of environmental governance. Habitat offsetting can, has and will change the physical, and political environment of Wyoming allowing powerful actors to write the rules of how the environment should be managed. As such, this dissertation questions whose environment the Environmental Defense Fund is defending as it explores sage-grouse management within the state.

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) is the largest grouse species in North America and an indicator species for the condition of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) ecosystems. The Box Elder Sage-Grouse Management Area (SGMA) in northwestern Utah encompasses one of the state’s largest sage-grouse populations. To fill knowledge gaps regarding the population inhabiting the Raft River subunit of the Box Elder SGMA, I captured, radio-marked, and monitored 123 (68 female, 55 male) sage-grouse from January 2012 through December 2013. My purpose was to describe how the seasonal movements, survival, and reproductive rates of this sage-grouse population are effected by small-scale habitat use and breeding season foraging patterns. Sage-grouse in the Raft River subunit have distinct winter and summer ranges, and some travelled long distances annually. Survival rates were similar to other Utah populations and range-wide averages. Nest and brood success rates were above range-wide averages and those reported in the adjacent Grouse Creek subunit of the same SGMA. Sage-grouse in the study area selected habitats with specific vegetation characteristics to fit their seasonal needs. Sage-grouse use sites differed from random sites with greater forb height, grass height, and shrub height and cover. Nest success rates were directly related to selected vegetation, as successful nests were located more often under sagebrush and within greater forb height and cover and grass and shrub height than unsuccessful nests. Brood sites were also greater in forb, grass, and shrub height than other use sites. In March and April of 2013, I located radio-marked sage-grouse at flock browse sites to observe their sagebrush diet selection patterns. Lab analyses showed no differences in nutritional quality or chemical composition between browsed sagebrush plants and non-browsed and random plants. However, browsed black sagebrush (A. nova) was lower in protein and higher in chemical content than browsed Wyoming big sagebrush (A. tridentata wyomingensis). Radio-marked females were frequently observed at sites where black sagebrush was browsed, and one individual chemical was considerably more concentrated in browsed plants associated with females that nested successfully. My research provides useful information regarding the seasonal habitat use patterns and vegetation preferences of sage-grouse in the Box Elder SGMA. To conserve the sage-grouse population in northwestern Utah, management actions must protect the seasonal habitats and vegetation that the species depends on for its productivity and survival.

Concern regarding the effect of energy development on greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is increasing as the search for fossil fuel intensifies. Sage-grouse may be especially sensitive to energy development because they require large, diverse areas of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat to complete their life cycle. Additionally, the network of pipelines, roads, and wells required by energy development may fragment sagebrush habitat isolating populations and contributing to genetic drift, inbreeding, local extinction, or rapid divergence. Seep Ridge, located in northeastern Utah, is one area where sage-grouse habitat and energy development plans overlap. Approved leases call for the construction of an additional 4,000 natural gas wells in an area currently occupied by a small sage-grouse population. This research was completed to 1) collect baseline data on the survival, reproductive success and habitat use of the Seep Ridge sage-grouse population, 2) examine sage-grouse habitat use patterns in relation to development, and 3) describe sage-grouse mitochondrial genetic diversity in 3 northeastern Utah populations relative to other parts of the species range. I captured and monitored 16 sage-grouse from the Seep Ridge population in 2007 and 2008. Adult mortality rate of the Seep Ridge population was high (65.2%) and recruitment was low (7.1%) compared to other sage-grouse populations in Utah. Additionally, the monitored sage-grouse used habitats located farther from wells more frequently than habitat located near wells, relative to well spacing. Current habitats occupied by this population do not meet recommended guidelines. No unusual haplotype compositions were observed in the genetic survey of the northeastern Utah sage-grouse populations. However, differences in haplotype composition between the Anthro Mountain and Strawberry Valley populations and other northeastern grouse populations indicate there may be a barrier to gene flow in the area. I also documented that the Seep Ridge population is connected to another population inhabiting Ute Tribal land. This observation suggests that the populations inhabiting Ute Tribal land may constitute a source population to recolonize Seep Ridge during the post-energy development periods. I recommend that mitigation measures incorporate restricting development in breeding habitat, maintaining connections between populations, and actions to reduce adult mortality on the summer range. I also recommend that biologists continue collecting genetic samples from northeastern Utah sage-grouse populations to understand population structure, divergent evolution, and inform decisions concerning translocation

Management of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) in the west has changed over the last several decades in response to environmental and anthropogenic causes. Many land and wildlife management agencies have begun manipulating sagebrush with herbicides, machinery, and fire. The intent of these manipulations (treatments) is to reduce sagebrush canopy cover and increase the density of grass and forb species, thus providing higher quality sage-grouse brood-rearing habitat. However, monitoring of sage-grouse response to such manipulations has often been lacking or non-existent. The objective of our study was to determine the response of sage-grouse to sagebrush reduction treatments that have occurred recently in Rich County, Utah. Our study areas were treated with a pasture aerator with the intent of creating sage-grouse brood-rearing habitat. We used pellet transects, occupancy sampling, and GPS radio telemetry to quantify sage-grouse habitat use in treated and untreated areas. Pellet transect, occupancy, and GPS radio telemetry methods all showed a strong pattern of sage-grouse use of treated sites during the breeding and early brood-rearing periods. Sage-grouse use of treated sites was greatest in lower elevation habitat (1950 to 2110 m), and use was highest during the breeding and early brood-rearing periods. We found very little use of higher elevation (2120 to 2250 m) treated or untreated sites. Our results suggest that sagebrush reduction treatments can have positive impacts on sage-grouse use at lower elevations and can be successful in creating brood-rearing habitat. Elevation differences and period of sage-grouse use were significant factors in our study in determining how beneficial sagebrush reduction treatments were for sage-grouse.

Translocations have been used as a management strategy to successfully augment declining native wildlife populations. Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) population declines on Anthro Mountain, Utah prompted managers to translocate sage-grouse and test protocols from a successful translocation project in Strawberry Valley, Utah. Sage-grouse from Parker Mountain, Utah were used as the source population for Anthro Mountain and Strawberry Valley translocations. Sixty hens were translocated to Anthro Mountain in 2009 and 2010; I monitored vital rates of the 60 translocated hens and 32 resident hens from 2009-2012. My objective was to determine the overall success of the translocation 4 years after the initial release and compare vital rates to the source population and Strawberry Valley.In Chapter 2, I determined that survival varied by study area and hen age but was not affected by residency status. Annual survival of Anthro Mountain hens was lower than Parker Mountain and Strawberry Valley hens. Adult hen survival in all three populations was higher than yearling survival.In Chapter 3, I determined that the translocation contributed to population growth. Adult resident and previously translocated hens had the highest reproductive success, followed by resident yearlings, newly translocated adults, and newly translocated yearlings. Lek counts increased from 2009-2013 and a new lek was discovered in 2011. Survival was not affected by residency status or age, but varied greatly by year and season. Mean monthly survival was lowest in the fall; this differs from range-wide trends.In Chapter 4, I determined that translocated hens adapted to the release area. They exhibited similar seasonal movements and used similar habitats as residents. The home range size of resident and translocated hens was comparable; however, previously translocated hens had smaller home ranges than newly released hens.Despite landscape level differences between the source and release areas, translocated hens assimilated to the population and contributed to population growth. Although the translocation was successful, the low vital rate estimates are cause for concern. The low estimates suggest that factors such as predation, habitat quality and quantity, and anthropogenic influences may be problematic for this isolated population.

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus; sage-grouse) are a sagebrush obligate species and as such an indicator of sagebrush (Artemisia spp.) habitat quality and quantity. Sage-grouse populations have declined across western North America. This decline has been attributed to habitat loss and degradation of the sagebrush ecosystem. To determine factors that may cause localized declines in sage-grouse populations, managers may need site-specific information on the ecology and habitat use patterns of meta-populations. This information is currently lacking for sage-grouse populations that inhabit the Bear Lake Plateau and Valley (BLPV), encompassing parts of Idaho, Utah and Wyoming. I captured, radio-marked and monitored 153 sage-grouse in the BLPV from 2010–2012 to assess nest success, brood survival, mortality factors, and habitat use. Reproductive success was lower than range-wide averages, with especially low success in 2011. Nesting and brood rearing both showed higher success rates in 2012. Survival was very similar to estimates found elsewhere. Females had higher survival rates than males, and yearlings had higher survival probability than adults. Sage-grouse mortality was highest in summer and spring, and lowest in fall. Individual sage-grouse completed large scale movements, often using habitats in Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. Important factors in sage-grouse habitat selection included distance to major road, distance to habitat edge, distance to vertical structure (i.e., communication towers, wind turbines, and transmission lines), and vegetation cover types. Sage-grouse tended to avoid major road and vertical structures (i.e., communication towers, wind turbines, and transmission lines). They also selected habitat further away from habitat edge. Vegetation types preferred by sage-grouse included shrubland habitats, wet meadows, and grassland. MaxEnt models did not place highest importance on sagebrush habitats, which are critical for sage-grouse presence. This could have occurred because the vegetation layers used in the model did not assess habitat quality. Models produced using the ten landscape variables and BLPV sage-grouse locations ranked good to excellent fits. State-defined habitat covered a larger extent than MaxEnt predicted habitat. MaxEnt predicted habitat areas may be used to further refine state identified core areas to assist in prioritization of conservation efforts to protect the BLPV sage-grouse population.

We estimated survival of ~ 1-day-old chicks to 42 days based on radio-marked individuals for the Parker Mountain greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) population. Chick survival was relatively high (low estimate of 0.41 and high estimate of 0.50) compared to other studies. Brood-mixing occurred for 21 % of radio-marked chicks, and within 43 % of radio-marked broods. Our study showed that brood-mixing may be an important ecological strategy for sage-grouse, because chicks that brood-mixed experienced higher survival. Additionally, modeling of chick survival suggested that arthropod abundance is important during the early brood-rearing period (1 - 21 days). We also used life-cycle modeling (perturbation analyses and Life Table Response Experiments) to assess the importance of various vital rates within this population. We determined that adult hen survival and production (chick and fledgling survival) had the most influence on growth rate. Moreover, we assessed various methods (walking, spotlight, and pointing dog) for counting sage-grouse broods. Spotlight and pointing dog methods were more effective than walking flush counts, and the latter may underestimate chick survival.

Manuscript No. 1 Translocations of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have been attempted in 7 states and one Canadian province with very little success. To recover a small remnant population and test the efficacy of sage-grouse translocations, we captured and transported 137 adult female sage-grouse from 2 source populations to a release site in Strawberry Valley, Utah during March-April 2003-2005. The resident population of sage-grouse in Strawberry Valley was approximately 150 breeding birds prior to the release. We radiomarked each female and documented survival, movements, reproductive effort, flocking with resident grouse, and lek attendance. We used Program MARK to calculate annual survival of translocated females in the first year after release, which averaged 0.60 (95% CI = 0.515-0.681). Movements of translocated females were within current and historic sage-grouse habitat in Strawberry Valley, and we detected no grouse outside of the study area. Nesting propensity for first (newly translocated) and second (surviving) year females was 39% and 73%, respectively. Observed nest success of all translocated females during the study was 67%. By the end of their first year in Strawberry Valley, 100% of the living translocated sage-grouse were in flocks with resident sage-grouse. The translocated grouse attended the same lek as the birds with which they were grouped. In 2006, the peak male count for the only remaining active lek in Strawberry Valley was almost 4 times (135 M) the 6-year pretranslocation (1998 − 2003) average peak attendance of 36 males (range 24 – 50 M). Translocations can be an effective management tool to increase small populations of greater sage-grouse when conducted during the breeding season and before target populations have been extirpated. Manuscript No. 2 Nesting habitat of resident greater sage-grouse in extant populations across the species range has been thoroughly described in the literature, yet very little is known about the use of nesting habitat by translocated sage-grouse. In order to better understand nesting habitat selection by translocated sage-grouse in a new environment, we trapped grouse during the spring on and near leks of source populations. We placed each female in a cardboard box and translocated them overnight to the Strawberry Valley. Each female was fitted with a radio-transmitter and released near the lek where males were actively strutting. We monitored grouse for nesting activity. We documented nesting attempts, nest success, clutch size and embryo viability. We recorded data on habitat variables associated with nest sites and paired-random sites. We used logistic regression and an a priori information theoretic approach for modeling nest versus paired-random sites and successful versus unsuccessful nest sites. Our data suggested that crown area of the nest shrub and percent grass cover were the two variables that discriminated between nest and paired-random sites. Females that nested successfully selected sites with more total shrub canopy cover, intermediate size shrub crown area, a normal distribution of aspects, and with steeper slopes than unsuccessful nests. Translocated females selected suitable nesting habitat after being moved from source populations with differing habitats. Manuscript No. 3 Equivalence testing in the field of wildlife ecology has been underutilized. Mistakenly, many researchers have concluded that two groups are the same based on failure to reject a null hypothesis of no difference. We used equivalence testing to provide preliminary evidence that resident and translocated bird movements were similar. Translocations are becoming more prominent in the field of conservation biology as a wildlife management tool. We translocated greater sage grouse into a fragmented habitat in order to conserve the metapopulation. We placed radio-transmitters on resident and translocated female greater sage grouse and used the distance moved from the release site or lek as a measure of translocation success and/or site fidelity. If translocated birds did not show site fidelity, the translocations would be judged a failure. The distributions of resident and translocated sage grouse movements for both summer and winter seasons were significantly different, primarily due to differences in the proportions of specific habitat fragments used. Equivalence tests showed that site fidelity was statistically equivalent for translocated and resident grouse,when defined as a difference of ≤3 km, both in summer and winter. In particular, translocated females traveled no farther from the release site than resident females. Equivalence testing was the statistical tool used to determine equivalence of resident and translocated sage grouse movements and thus judge preliminary translocation success.

Manuscript No. 1 Recent research has indicated that low nest success and juvenile survival of Greater Sage-Grouse may be responsible for population declines. Recent technological advances in micro-transmitters have made radio-telemetry studies on Sage-Grouse chicks more common. Radio-telemetry enables monitoring of individual chicks and broods during a critical period of their life history. The exact cause of low chick recruitment in Strawberry Valley has not been well understood. In 2006, a chick mortality study using micro-transmitters was initiated to (1) determine the causes of chick mortality, (2) calculate overall chick survival, (3) compare chick survival in the Strawberry Valley population to published reports, (4) monitor brood movements, and (5) suggest management strategies for mitigation of chick mortality. Survival data on radio-marked chicks were analyzed using a known fate model in program MARK. Chick survival in Strawberry Valley was greater than all reported estimates from other studies. Our study did not identify any unsuspected causes of chick mortality, and the cumulative effect of stressing chicks, hens, and broods was not deemed worth the benefit, especially in a population recovery setting like Strawberry Valley. We do not recommend the use of radio-telemetry on Sage-Grouse chicks in recovering or sensitive populations. Manuscript No. 2 In 2003, we began translocating Greater Sage-Grouse into the Strawberry Valley of central Utah, in an attempt to recover the dwindling population found therein. Prior to 2006 all translocated Sage-Grouse were released within 250 m of the only active lek in Strawberry Valley while males were actively strutting. A prolonged winter in 2006 delayed normal lekking activity in Strawberry Valley. As a result 61 (59%) of the 103 sage-grouse translocated in 2006 were not released near an active lek. We analyzed the influence that release timing, hen age, body mass, and source population had on mortality, flocking, and dispersal distance of translocated hens in 2006. We found that mortality and flocking rates were not influenced by release timing, hen age, body mass, or source population. Dispersal distances for hens released near a lek with actively strutting males were significantly less than distances of hens released near an inactive lek. We believe that releasing translocated Sage-Grouse near a lek with actively strutting males is an essential technique for Greater Sage-Grouse translocations. We recommend that other Sage-Grouse translocation efforts employ this method to increase the likelihood of success.