Two declining bird species are found in wyomings bighorn basingreater sage-grouse (centrocercusurophasianus) and the lesser-studied pinyon JAY (gymnorhinus cyanocephalus)

Sage-grouse occupiessagebrush steppe and pinyon JAY occupies adjacent limber pine (pinus flexilis)-western juniper (juniperusoccidentalis) woodlands (boone ET AL. 2021). While JAY-occupied woodlands in the bighorn basin oftenoccur on rocky ridges and slopes, habitat use is not well documented across its range (boone ET AL. 2021),where pinyon jays contribute to planting limber pine by seed caching (pesendorfer ET AL. 2016), and newgrowth conifer encroachment into sagebrush steppe due to fire suppression and climate change maydecrease sage-grouse habitat area and or quality (severson ET AL. 2017). Because of well-documentedconifer encroachment (miller ET AL. 2019) and benefits to sage-grouse populations when conifers areremoved (olsen ET AL. 2021), mechanical thinning and prescribed burning of conifers in the sagebrushsteppe are widely accepted management tools for sage-grouse habitat improvement (boyd ET AL. 2017 cook ET AL. 2017). Emerging conservation concern around pinyon JAY (rosenberg ET AL. 2016, partnersin flight 2019) demands more information about any potential overlap in habitat use between sagegrouseand jays. Removal of conifers in some areas (e.g., on rocky ridgelines, foothills, and slopes) maynot improve sage-grouse habitat while reducing critical pinyon JAY habitat.