News

• A health check up for the Gunnison Sage Grouse
• Telluride Says Hands Off
• Lawmakers Talk Immigration and Abortion

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A Health Checkup for the Gunnison Sage Grouse

For such a small bird, the Gunnison sage grouse draws quite a crowd—at least in Western Colorado.

Stakeholders, government officials and advocates came together Friday, April 7, for the annual working group meeting focused on the endangered bird.

The Gunnison sage grouse is a small species of grouse endemic to the Gunnison Basin and Western Colorado. Thriving on open sagebrush landscapes, the bird was listed as endangered in 2014 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service due to increasing habitat threats from development, climate change, and oil and gas activities. Since then, formal management plans and working groups have created a network of support for the species.

“Gunnison sage grouse are for the most part found only in Colorado. If we see this little piece of red dot over here—the lower southwest portion of Utah—there’s a little bit of Gunnison sage grouse habitat in Utah,” said Kathy Griffin, Colorado Parks and Wildlife’s statewide species conservation coordinator. “But for the most part, almost all the birds are found here in Colorado.”

Griffin’s work is centered almost entirely around the Gunnison sage grouse. She spoke about the species’ presence in San Miguel County during the meeting.

“I guess I want to point out that San Miguel is a unique population—or satellite population—in that it is fragmented into subpopulations, sub-satellites,” Griffin said. “So we have here in San Miguel the Dry Creek Basin, Hamilton Mesa, Miramonte, Gurley Reservoir, Beaver Mesa and Iron Springs. Each one of these is different, each one of these has a different makeup of land ownership, each one has a little bit different habitat mosaic. So when we talk about San Miguel, we tend to just talk about San Miguel. But the truth is, every single one of these sub-satellite populations is different.”

The main population of Gunnison sage grouse is in the Gunnison Basin—hence the name. According to Griffin, just under 3,800 birds live in that region. As for San Miguel County:

“San Miguel is our second-largest population. We’re looking at just under 300 estimated birds total. We’re below the Fish and Wildlife Service target,” she said.

The population targets Griffin referenced are implemented by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service through a comprehensive recovery and management program. Population goals must be met in seven out of nine consecutive years in most designated areas for the bird to be considered in recovery from its endangered status.

“Overall, the estimated population in Colorado is about 4,000 birds total. That’s it—in the world, essentially,” Griffin said.

Helping the Gunnison sage grouse thrive is a complex task. Each habitat area is unique, involving a mix of public and private lands. Griffin said there is one defining factor that continues to challenge the species:

“A big portion of it is drought. You see they’re almost always trending down—2010, 2011, 2012, those were major drought years. So drought is a major factor,” she said.

It takes a village, Griffin noted. Closing oil and gas leasing, creating travel management plans, and implementing development restrictions through counties all contribute to protecting the bird’s future.

Griffin concluded her presentation by sharing that some success has been found in translocating birds—a delicate process of moving individuals from a healthy population to another area in need.

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Telluride Says Hands Off

More than 150 members of the Telluride and San Miguel County community marched to say “Hands Off” on Saturday. The protesters joined thousands across the country in pushing back against President Donald Trump, Elon Musk, and DOGE initiatives that have been cutting critical funds to government programs.

KOTO’s Julia Caulfield was there to report, sharing an audio postcard from the event. Speakers included: March organizer Amy Levek, San Miguel County Poet Laureate Joanna Yonder, San Miguel County Commissioner Lance Waring, Telluride Town Councilmember Meehan Fee, and Mountain Village Town Councilmember Rick Gomez.

Story begins at 4:06

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Lawmakers Talk Immigration and Abortion

Several hot-button issues are currently before lawmakers in Denver, including immigration, abortion, and gender-affirming care. This week on Capitol Conversation, Statehouse Reporter Lucas Brady Woods shares the latest.

Story begins at 8:53

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Wastewater Recycling Could Cut Colorado River Shortages

A new UCLA study says wastewater recycling could help reduce supply shortages on the Colorado River by a third. Colorado, Wyoming, and Utah recycle less than 4% of their water, while Nevada recycles 85%.

Bronson Mack, a spokesman for Nevada’s largest water agency, said recycling plays a critical role in managing the state’s water resources.

“It helps us to stretch and extend our water supply even further, and we’re able to do that in a way that involves everybody in Las Vegas that uses water, because this is community-wide water reuse,” Mack said.

The study’s authors urged states along the Colorado River to “aggressively pursue” water recycling to ensure a more sustainable future. They also noted that gathering better data on water recycling would help expand the technology, as it was difficult to collect reliable information on current recycling efforts.

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Highline Lake Set to Reopen After Zebra Mussel Infestation

Some of Colorado’s most troublesome aquatic nuisance species are unsuspecting shellfish.

In September 2022, officials discovered invasive zebra mussels in Highline Lake, located west of Grand Junction. The discovery prompted efforts to drain the reservoir in an attempt to eradicate the fast-spreading shellfish.

As KDNK’s Lily Jones reports, after years of mitigation efforts, Highline Lake State Park announced it is set to reopen for the 2025 season.

Story begins at 14:49