2023 Early Hearing Detection & Intervention Conference

March 5-7, 2023 • Cincinnati, OH

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9/25/2018 | 10:35 AM - 10:50 AM | Greater Sage-Grouse Response to Two 230-kV Transmission Lines | Eccles Conference Center Auditorium

Greater Sage-Grouse Response to Two 230-kV Transmission Lines

Greater sage-grouse are a landscape-level species that require large tracts of intact sagebrush habitats. The increase in demand for energy generation, transmission, and distribution within sage-grouse habitats in the western U.S. has the potential to affect this species. We monitored 346 female sage-grouse from 2009 to 2014 to evaluate the potential effects of two 230-kilovolt H-frame transmission lines on sage-grouse habitat selection and demography. We had a unique opportunity to model the effect of the two transmission lines in two different study areas simultaneously using consistent habitat data. We determined the effect of transmission lines on habitat selection was confounded by other habitat features at the landscape scale. However, at the local scale, sage-grouse selected against habitats in close proximity to transmission lines during the brood-rearing and summer periods, although nest site selection was not influenced by the presence of transmission lines. In addition, nest and female survival were reduced within habitats in close proximity to transmission lines. We combined the habitat selection and demography results to evaluate habitat function within 2 km of the two transmission lines and found evidence to suggest that habitats within 0.52 km of a transmission line were associated with lower survival and lower relative probability of use. We suggest future power line placement consider potential impacts to sage-grouse habitat selection and survival parameters. We recommend systematic comparisons among power line voltages; structure type; and structure height to further elucidate potential effect distances from power line rights-of-way to greater sage-grouse use areas.

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Presenters/Authors

Chad LeBeau (), Western EcoSystems Technology, Inc., cwlebeau@west-inc.com;