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MTJP CORPS · MORE THAN JUST PARKS ·
A place we watch

Montana Sage-Grouse Habitat

Timing

Nothing is open on this one today. It is a place the Corps keeps an eye on, so we see the paperwork the day it lands.

What is worth photographing here

In unbroken sagebrush, photograph sage-grouse sign: piles of droppings and feathers under the bushes, tracks in dust or snow. Then a wide shot of the same spot showing sagebrush to the horizon with no drill pads.

Why we watch it

The greater sage-grouse has lost 80% of its population in a single generation. Six million acres of Montana sagebrush steppe are the backbone of what remains, and the rollback of management plans is clearing the way for oil and gas drilling to fragment these last strongholds. The bird needs vast, undisturbed landscapes. It is getting drill pads.

How to record it so it counts

  1. 01Photograph any sign: tracks, scat, feathers, rubs, nests, dens, burrows, carcasses. Put something for scale beside it (a coin, a pole tip, your boot).
  2. 02Photograph the surroundings so the habitat shows.
  3. 03Note the time of day and the weather.
  4. 04Keep your distance from any animal. Never approach a nest or a den.
  5. 05Write down what you think it is and why. If you’re not sure, say so; a photo of unidentified sign is still sign.
What would count
  • Presence, not absence. Sign proves something is there; a quiet walk proves nothing.
  • Scale, time and habitat in the same set.
All of it, with the phone settings, in the field guide
Nothing to answer yet

Nobody is asking you to go here today. We watch this place so that the day a decision opens on it, the people who already know it hear the same week. If you are out here anyway, what you photograph now is worth more later than anything taken after the paperwork lands.

Before you go
  1. Public land only. Plenty of land inside a national forest or park boundary is privately owned, and that is not yours to walk on. A gate or a closure sign means stop. Check the rules for the specific place you are going, because they differ.
  2. Don’t touch survey stakes, flagging, equipment or anything a crew left. Photograph it; leave it.
  3. Don’t approach crews, contractors or agency staff about the project. Don’t interfere with any operation.
  4. Wildlife at a distance. No drones in wilderness or anywhere they’re prohibited. Stay off closed roads and trails.
  5. If you’re not sure, don’t. Weather, terrain, water, fire and people are your call, and yours alone.

More Than Just Parks doesn’t direct where you go or what you do. Terms.