{"id":34004,"date":"2015-12-07T05:34:58","date_gmt":"2015-12-07T12:34:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/?p=34004"},"modified":"2025-11-25T06:58:42","modified_gmt":"2025-11-25T12:58:42","slug":"saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-one-lek-at-a-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2015\/12\/07\/saving-the-greater-sage-grouse-one-lek-at-a-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Saving the Greater Sage-Grouse One Lek at a Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"GreaterGreater Sage-Grouse on a Utah lek<\/span><\/p>\n

The recent decision to not list Greater Sage-Grouse under the Endangered Species Act is seen by some as a “good thing” and by others a “bad thing”. The grouse and their habitat is still at risk regardless of that decision.<\/p>\n

So, perhaps we can be more productive if we start saving the Greater Sage-Grouse one lek at a time.<\/p>\n

I am asking for your help today to save the Alton Sink Valley Lek which is the southernmost active sage-grouse lek in North America by signing a petition to help convince the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to reject the Alton Coal Mine Expansion Project Proposal<\/span><\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"FightingFighting Greater Sage-Grouse<\/span><\/p>\n

The Alton Sink Valley Lek is within the proposed expansion area of the Alton coal mine expansion project and this lek would be severely impacted if the BLM decides to allow the destruction of approximately 3,500 acres of Utah\u2018s public lands. This strip mine would destroy habitat, negatively affect wildlife, water and air quality, and regional tourism.<\/p>\n

\"GreaterGreater Sage-Grouse displaying on a Utah lek<\/span><\/p>\n

The proposed expansion area that contains the Alton Sink Valley Lek isn’t that far from Bryce Canyon National Park and Zion National Park which are national treasures and would be impacted by this proposed expansion.<\/p>\n

The tract is located in Kane County, Utah, approximately 0.10 mile south of the town of Alton and 2.9 miles east of U.S Route 89.\u00a0 (Google map of the area<\/span><\/a>)<\/p>\n

Many of you who visit my blog are nature lovers, birders, plus bird, wildlife, and landscape photographers who know exactly what a treasure the parks and wildlife in this area are.<\/p>\n

\"GreaterGreater Sage-Grouse battling on a lek<\/span><\/p>\n

Please read what Rahul Mukherjee, sage-grouse conservationist, has written on the petition<\/span><\/a> then please sign and share it with every nature lover that you know because the habitat destruction that would occur if this expansion is approved by the BLM will not only affect the grouse but every<\/em> living thing within and near the those 3,500 acres of the proposed expansion area.<\/p>\n

Anyone can can sign this petition, you do not need to be a Utah resident.<\/p>\n

Thank you all in advance!<\/p>\n

We can still save the Greater Sage-Grouse one lek at a time.<\/p>\n

Life is<\/em> good.<\/p>\n

Mia<\/p>\n

Also see this video<\/span><\/a> created by Wildlife Guardians<\/span><\/a> to see Rahul speak about why he started to work on sage-grouse conservation.<\/p>\n

Rahul, myself and others are so very grateful for what you do and I am looking forward to seeing the great things that you do in the future!<\/p>\n

Click here<\/a><\/span> to see more of my Greater Sage-Grouse photos plus facts and information about this species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The recent decision to not list Greater Sage-Grouse under the Endangered Species Act is seen by some as a “good thing” and by others a “bad thing”. So, perhaps we can be more productive if we start saving the Greater Sage-Grouse one lek at a time. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":164796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":true,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[27,2152,2319,26,2486],"tags":[4792,4791,2320,988,4556,3492,4790,3476,9189,4789,11235,11232,401],"class_list":["post-34004","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-avian","category-conservation","category-greater-sage-grouse","category-utah","category-wayne-county","tag-alton-coal-mine-expansion-project","tag-alton-sink-valley-lek","tag-centrocercus-urophasianus","tag-conservation","tag-greater-sage-grouse","tag-grouse","tag-habitat-protection","tag-lek","tag-protections","tag-sage-grouse","tag-save","tag-sgae-grouse","tag-upland-game-birds"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/11\/greater-sage-grouse-lek-mia-mcpherson-6829.jpg","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p11Mom-8Qs","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":51031,"url":"https:\/\/www.onthewingphotography.com\/wings\/2018\/02\/21\/greater-sage-grouse-on-a-lek-our-public-lands-our-legacy\/","url_meta":{"origin":34004,"position":0},"title":"Greater 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