Fund analysis of existing data and research to improve knowledge about sooty grouse (dendragapus fuliginosus) population trends throughout western oregon

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Department of the Interior awarded $489,892 in formula grant funding to the State of Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife under the Wildlife Restoration and Basic Hunter Education and Safety program (CFDA 15.611) for the period of July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2027. This funding supports a comprehensive research initiative to address declining sooty grouse populations throughout western Oregon, which have experienced significant decline over the past 50 years and were placed on the State of the Birds Watch List in 2014.

The project will deliver four primary products and services: continued monitoring of sooty grouse population trends; analysis of the relationship between population trends and habitat quality and environmental factors; assessment of male hooting patterns and detection factors to optimize field survey protocols; and development of an integrated population model combining trend data, harvest data, and other datasets to inform wildlife management decisions. The research leverages existing data and analytical approaches to generate actionable intelligence on population dynamics and causal decline factors, supporting evidence-based conservation and management strategies for this declining species in Oregon.

Sooty grouse populations have declined throughout their range for almost half a century with very little research assessing contributing factors. These declines have led to sooty grouse placement on the state of the birds watch list in 2014. Our preliminary analyses of overall populations trends indicate that sooty grouse populations are indeed in decline in oregon, highlighting the need to continue monitoring and identify causal factors. The primary goals of this project will be to 1) continue to monitor population trends, 2) relate population trends to habitat quality and other environmental factors, 3) identify male hooting patterns and factors that influence detection in the field surveys to improve protocols, and 4) combine trend, harvest, and other datasets in an integrated population model for informing management decisions.