Ottawa urged to protect sage grouse

A dozen environmental groups are threatening the federal government with legal action unless it overrules two provinces and takes emergency steps to save sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). They say the distinctive bird could be gone from Alberta within a year if nothing is done quickly. The threat comes in a letter sent Wednesday to federal Environment Minister Peter Kent, in which the groups say Canadian law requires Ottawa to preserve threatened species if provincial governments aren't doing the job. Scientists say a species that numbered 20,000 a few years ago across the southern prairies is down to 13 male birds in Alberta and 43 in Saskatchewan. "The probability of them being around in the next couple years is slim," said biologist Mark Boyce of the University of Alberta. "They've just gone down, down, down."

Source: CBC Canada News, 24 November 2011
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatchewan/story/2011/11/24/sk-sage-gro…