Grant Opportunity – South Cave and Hamlin Valley Sage-grouse Research and
Monitoring
Proposals are due no later than November 6, 2015. Grant proposal and any questions should
be directed to: Shawn Espinosa @ [email protected].
This project is intended to improve the understanding of habitat utilization of Greater Sagegrouse (sage-grouse) within south Cave Valley and Hamlin Valley in northern Lincoln County,
Nevada to ultimately determine the effects of landscape level habitat improvement projects
being developed and implemented collaboratively between the Bureau of Land Management
(BLM), Nevada Department of Wildlife (NDOW), Natural Resource Conservation Service, and
Nevada Partners in Conservation and Development. Habitat improvement projects are focused
on enhancement of sagebrush, meadow, and riparian communities. Treatment options include
pinyon and juniper reduction and meadow/riparian improvements. Wild horse gathers to attain
appropriate management level may also be conducted.
Significant portions of this project area serve as important sage-grouse habitat during all life
stages (breeding, nesting, brood rearing and winter). Understanding the ultimate effects of
habitat enhancement projects to sage-grouse demographic parameters such as adult and
juvenile survival, nest survival as well as habitat use and distribution, including use of project
areas, will allow us to measure the success of management actions and present opportunities
for adaptive management. This monitoring project is expected to span a three year period.
Grant Application Instructions
Please refer to scope of work below for details regarding this research project. Proposals should
include the following at a minimum:
 Demonstrate qualifications to conduct tasks identified within the scope of work;
 Identification of the project manager and any supporting staff along with a brief
description of their qualifications;
 A proposed cost estimate with detail to include: salary, travel, material costs and other
anticipated expenses;
 A schedule of activities;
 Submission of the draft report in digital form
Grant Eligibility (must meet all the following criteria)
 Must be a Government Agency or Academic Institution (University) with offices located
in either Nevada or Utah;
 Specific experience working with Greater Sage-grouse within the Great Basin and
measuring demographic parameters and habitat selection of sage-grouse;
Scope of Work
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Capture and GPS satellite PTT mark 10-15 female sage-grouse initially at each study
site (South Cave Valley and Hamlin/Table Mountain) and maintain that approximate
sample size over the course of the 3-year study;
 Dropped transmitters will be refurbished (if possible) and redeployed during the
second and third breeding season.
Capture and band any male sage-grouse encountered during trapping efforts;
Periodically download and categorize data obtained from GPS satellite PTT transmitters;
Determine approximate nest initiation dates of each female grouse;
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Identify movement patterns during the nesting season;
Determine nest fate of each female grouse and estimate daily nest survival probabilities;
Estimate the effects of environmental characteristics on nest survival rates;
Calculate kernel home-ranges of female grouse during the nesting season;
Identify specific use areas during the brooding period;
Conduct brood counts every 10-d interval through the brood-rearing period to document
brood success. Broods with no chicks will be scored unsuccessful and confirmed within
48-hours;
Calculate 10-day interval brood survival rate;
Identify late-fall feeding area for congregated broods;
Estimate differences between male and female (with broods) departure dates to
wintering areas;
Identify wintering grounds and attempt to develop a winter seasonal habitat map;
Calculate Brownian bridge movement path models to identify corridors between
seasonal use areas;
Calculate seasonal and annual survival rates and identify differences between sexes.
Habitat Measurements and Analyses
 Within 48 hours of nest fate, measure multiple microhabitat characteristics at each nest
site, including total shrub cover, sagebrush cover, perennial and annual grasses,
perennial and annual forbs, vertical cover, and horizontal cover (measured at 5, 10, 25,
50, 100 m from nest site);
 Place four perpendicular transects centered at the nest and record the percent shrub
cover for each meter along the transect at scales of 5, 10, 25 m;
 In addition, place two 20 X 50 cm Daubenmire plots along each transect and one at the
nest center where percent cover is estimated and all plants are measured and keyed as
annual or perennial;
 Use three methods, including Jones cover, board to estimate vertical and horizontal
cover at each point of subplots and at the nest bowl;
 Conduct multiple measurements to quantify the amount of conifers within the nesting
area (Monitor study site);
 Use maps of vegetation types derived from remote sensing data in a Geographical
Information System (GIS) to measure habitat characteristics at larger spatial scales;
 Measure the habitat characteristics (field and GIS) at random points that are spatially
dependent and independent from the nest site;
 Develop a cover class layer of conifers using 1-m resolution NAIP and NDVI data
(Monitor study site);
 Conduct multi-scale habitat selection analysis using random and used points;
 Estimate the effects of grouse age and body condition on nest survival rates;
 Conduct habitat measurements (field and GIS) at a subsample of brood locations
dependent random locations for each 10-day interval;
 Develop and compare brood survival models that include vegetation characteristics as
covariates to identify the effects of vegetation factors;
Location
The study area largely is encompassed within northern Lincoln County; however, some
monitoring work may also take place in southern White Pine County. The primary sage-grouse
use areas include the southern portion of Cave Valley located in the northwestern portion of
Lincoln County and Hamlin Valley/Table Mountain located in the eastern portion of the County
(see attached map).
Cave Valley
Southern Cave Valley is located between the Egan Range and the Schell Creek Range in
Lincoln County. There are 7 active sage-grouse leks located in southern Cave Valley ranging in
size from 2 to 29 males. Breeding and nesting occurs mainly on the valley floor itself; however,
brood rearing is expected to occur within the surrounding mountain ranges as birds disperse
once the valley habitat dry during late spring and summer.
Hamlin Valley/Table Mountain
Hamlin Valley is located on the northeastern edge of Lincoln County and is flanked on the west
by the Wilson Creek Range. A portion of Hamlin Valley extends into Utah. There are three
active leks in the Nevada portion of Hamlin Valley and one in the northern portion of the White
Rock Mountains and range in size from 7 to 20 males.
Contractor Furnished Property and Services
 The contractor shall furnish labor and certain equipment and supplies to perform all work
as set forth in the specifications.
 Collect field data to assess habitat characteristics of nesting hens and broods as
described in the methodology section;
 Provide NDOW with nesting and brood-rearing (March – August) telemetry data by
November 30th each year following the field season. Data should be reported in an
excel spreadsheet with the locations (Universal Transverse Mercator [UTM] preferred
using North American Datum (NAD) 83 and latitude and longitude), date, sex, season
(breeding, brood-rearing, fall, and winter);
 Provide NDOW with fall and winter (Aug – March) telemetry data by May 1st each year.
Data should be reported in an excel spreadsheet with the locations (UTM preferred
using NAD 83 datum and latitude and longitude), date, sex, season (breeding, broodrearing, fall, and winter);
 Provide NDOW with quarterly progress reports for March, June, September and
December summarizing the following:
o Movement data (i.e. habitat connectivity, migration routes, landscape level
movement drivers, movement distances from leks to nests and presenting other
noteworthy information);
o Use areas (i.e. identification of new leks, confirmation of existing leks, nesting,
brood-rearing, winter, and presenting other noteworthy information);
o Habitat characteristics (i.e. nesting and brood-rearing site selection characteristics,
determine what riparian/meadow characteristics sage-grouse are selecting for and
against, and presenting other noteworthy information) if applicable to time frame
(quarter);
o Population demographics (i.e. annual, seasonal, and daily survival estimates; nest
and brood rearing success; average brood size, population growth estimates;
presenting other noteworthy information), if applicable to time frame (quarter);
o Other relevant information.
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Provide NDOW with an annual comprehensive report by December 31st of each year
summarizing:
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Movement data (i.e. PMU connectivity, migration routes, landscape level movement
drivers, movement distances from leks to nests and presenting other noteworthy
information)
Use areas (i.e. identification of new leks, confirmation of existing leks, nesting,
brood-rearing, winter, and presenting other noteworthy information)
Habitat characteristics (i.e. nesting and brood-rearing site selection characteristics,
determine what riparian/meadow characteristics sage-grouse are selecting for and
against, and presenting other noteworthy information)
Population demographics (i.e. annual, seasonal, and daily survival estimates; nest
and brood rearing success; population growth estimates; presenting other
noteworthy information.)
Other relevant information.
NDOW Furnished Property and Services
 NDOW is providing some personnel time to assist with the capture and follow-up of
sage-grouse over the course of the project.
 NDOW will provide approximately 10 GPS-PTT Satellite transmitters for use during the
initial year of the project. It NDOW’s intent to supply additional transmitters in future
years of the project as well.