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The Sheyenne National Grasslands provide a wonderful case study where a large number of resource issues exist: livestock production - an integral part of the local economy, greater prairie chickens - essentially the last stand of the colorful bird in the state, leafy spurge - a troublesome weed which threatens essentially all of the other resource values, the prairie fringed orchid - a nationally threatened plant, and the preservation of the largest contiguous tract of tallgrass prairie in North Dakota. The long-term goal for the Grasslands should focus on sustainability - to have a vibrant prairie ecosystem which can provide for some of the needs of man and a functional array of plants and animals. One of the featured wildlife species at the Grasslands is the greater prairie chicken; a bird of immense historical and aesthetic appeal.

This report was developed for the North Dakota Game and Fish Department in conjunction with the U.S. Forest Service to provide background material to a conservation strategy committee which will develop management standards and guidelines to ensure the long-term viability of the resident prairie chickens in conjunction with livestock grazing on the Sheyenne National Grasslands. An extensive review of the literature was conducted along with interviews of resource specialists familiar with the Grasslands and/or with prairie grouse. The focus has been to describe the optimum ecological needs of greater prairie chickens along with various management considerations. No one has all the answers; what we know at some point in time regarding prairie chicken ecology or range management, is, in the words of Fran Hamerstrom, "merely a progress report." As we scientists, ranchers, or land managers endeavor to apply knowledge and expertise to the prairie to manage chickens and cows, we would do well to humbly consider the following words by E.R. Kalmbach:

"Simple processes of reasoning are not always the soundest. Contentions that seem readily apparent may in fact be deficient through neglect of important factors, lack of proper perspective, absence of sufficient evidence to obliterate temporary or local distortions, or through other circumstances that might lead to faulty deductions. Opinions regarding wildlife relationships are frequently based on imperfect evidence, and, probably more than in any other field of human thought, there also crops up that chronic mental quirk of being most easily convinced of that which is most satisfying to believe." (Kalmbach, 1939:591).

Svedarsky, Daniel and Gerald Van Amburg.  1996.  Integrated management of the 
     greater prairie chicken and livestock on the Sheyenne National Grassland.  
     North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismarck, ND.  113pp.

Svedarsky, Daniel and Gerald Van Amburg.  1996.  Integrated management of the 
     greater prairie chicken and livestock on the Sheyenne National Grassland.  
     North Dakota Game and Fish Department, Bismarck, ND.  Jamestown, ND:
     Northern Prairie Wildlife Research Center Online.
     http://www.npwrc.usgs.gov/resource/birds/sheyenne/index.htm
     (Version 16JUL97).

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments

The Sheyenne National Grasslands

Description of Area

Cultural History

Grazing Systems

Key Issues

Nesting Cover

Brood Period

Winter Food

Roosting Cover

Movements and Migration

Minimum Viable Populations

Disease

Predation

Opportunities on Private Land

Prairie Chickens and Sharp-tailed Grouse

Leafy Spurge Infestations and Control

Threatened, Endangered and Sensitive Species

Effects of Fire and Mowing

Livestock Grazing and Wildlife Habitat

A Focus on Lowlands

Monitoring Systems

Recommendations

Literature Cited