The Washington state Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW) will accept public input on a proposal to continue classifying the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse as an endangered species.
On Wednesday, the WDFW announced it would accept public comments on the draft periodic status review through Jan. 28, 2025. Following the public comment period, the periodic status review will be finalized and brought to the Washington Fish and Wildlife Commission.
The commission is scheduled to consider the topic next spring.
“Since their listing and even before, multiple partners and organizations have made great efforts toward Columbian sharp-tailed grouse recovery, including but not limited to translocations to augment populations and habitat restoration work,” said Michael Atamian, WDFW’s sharp-tailed grouse species lead. “However, after multiple impactful wildfires between 2018 and 2021, the estimated population of this once-abundant species has dropped to its lowest point ever. Due to the state of the species, we recommend keeping the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse on the Washington endangered species list.”
According to the WDFW, the Columbian sharp-tailed Grouse is a bird of grasslands and shrublands. In recent years, habitat for the sharp-tailed grouse has declined, and the WDFW estimates that fewer than 500 exist in the wild.
According to the WDFW, the sharp-tailed Grouse “persists” in eight colonies in Eastern Washington, in Douglas, Lincoln and Okanogan counties.
The bird was added to the threatened species list in 1998 and uplisted to endangered in 2018. According to the WDFW, endangered species are “seriously threatened with extinction throughout all or a significant portion of their range.”
The draft status review is available to view at https://wdfw.wa.gov/publications/02541.
Written comments can be emailed to TandEpubliccom@dfw.wa.gov or mailed to the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife ATTN: Taylor Cotten, to P.O. Box 43141 in Olympia.
