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• Surrounding lands are under cultivation and provide <br />necessary food, water and cover. The land on which sage <br />grouse occur is very marginal and rehabilitation would be <br />almost impossible. <br />Blue Grouse <br />This species can be found wintering almost exclusively in <br />spruce-fir timber stands. Birds move down to stream <br />bottoms to nest and raise their broods. Birds move up in <br />elevation and disperse in the fall in the oak-chokecherry- <br />aspen stands until snow drives them to their winter habi- <br />tats. Very few people hunt Dlue grouse specifically. <br />They are usually taken by big game hunters while they are <br />in the field. Biue grouse nesting cover and brood escape <br />cover, as well as brood forage plants, can be drastically <br />reduced by heavy year-after-year livestock grazing in the <br />• creek bottoms. The 10 to 14-inch canopy coverage required <br />for optimum brood habitat is not often present in the <br />planning unit drainage bottoms. This species' habitat is <br />in abundance and the birds are not harvested at anywhere <br />near their potential, so habitat improvement would be a <br />waste. <br />Mourning Doves <br />This species is a game bird of importance, but not in <br />this area. Cool weather triggers migration before or <br />soon after the September 1 opening date. Consequently, <br />there is not much local hunter interest. <br />Doves nest in the planning unit in a variety of places. <br />They use rock cliffs, deciduous and coniferous trees and <br />even the bare ground. <br />Water is distributed well enough so it is not a limiting <br />factor for dove populations except in the Alkali portion. <br />NF-WL-III-17 4/76 RWM <br />