A male sage grouse displaying during mating season.
A male sage grouse displaying during mating season.

Transmission lines that funnel power from hydroelectric dams and wind turbines across Eastern Washington impact sage grouse habitat by isolating fragile populations and limiting movement, a new study by the College of the Environment’s Climate Impacts Group and others finds.

The paper looks at how features in the landscape limit the species’ distribution and gene flow, and is the first to show that power-line corridors are an obstacle for sage grouse as they move across the landscape to feed and reproduce.

Researchers say the birds, who have lost more than 90 percent of their historic habitat to roads, development, wheat fields, and power operations, avoid the tall transmission towers and power lines, which stand out in their usually expansive landscape. Some grouse have collided with the towers, and the structures attract predator birds that perch on the lines, targeting grouse eggs or even the birds themselves.

Read more at UW Today »