More sage grouse found in Sask.

REGINA Biologists have made a discovery on a swath of native grassland in southwest Saskatchewan that they are calling exciting, but are also hesitant to talk about.

Mike Burak, with the Nature Conservancy of Canada, says the group has found endangered greater sage grouse on a 1,200-hectare conservation area next to Grasslands National Park.

“We found a couple of individuals in a couple of different places on the property,” Burak told the Canadian Press.

“We’re not going to release which parts of the property we did find them on, just because we don’t want to give any more away then we really have to. But because they are a critically endangered species, it is something to celebrate that we have found them and they are using the property as habitat.”

Environmental groups have warned that the greater sage grouse is in danger of becoming extinct in Canada.

In late 2013, Ottawa issued an emergency protection order covering nearly 1,700 square kilometres of federally and provincially owned land in southeastern Alberta and southwestern Saskatchewan to protect the bird’s habitat.

That led to protests from ranchers, oil and gas interests, and federal lawsuit seeking compensation by the City of Medicine Hat over restrictions at its Manyberries oil fields.

Last year, it was reported that numbers of male greater sage grouse have almost quadrupled since 2014, with nearly 80 male birds being counted — up from 20 male birds counted in 2014.

Burak wouldn’t say how many greater sage grouse were found in the conservation area. Researchers are worried about people going to the conservation area specifically to find the endangered birds, he said.

“Ultimately, we’ve decided to put it out there that we’ve found them and hope that people will respect that and not do anything inappropriate, and not try to get to close to them or to go out there during inappropriate times of year, like during the spring when they’re breeding or during the nesting season, to disrupt them.”

The Nature Conservancy of Canada announced the new conservation area back in March, but it was too cold to assess species at the time. Other wildlife under study migrate to and from the area.

When researchers did get out to the property, they identified 10 different species listed under the federal Species At Risk Act or on a watch list.

That includes threatened birds such as Sprague’s pipit, loggerhead shrike and common nighthawk.

He says the findings will be reported to the federal government, which helped fund the purchase of the land, and the provincial government so that it can help track species.