Check out our latest stories! 'Sage grouse get new home' and 'Biologists, beetles and black lights'

Having trouble viewing this email? View it as a Web page. See our latest stories! Bi-state sage grouse get new home on Earth Day Translocation of select birds seeks to improve imperiled sub-population Juliana Masseloux (left) and Mary Meyerpeter, U.S. Geological Survey biological science technicians, take measurements on a female bi-state greater sage-grouse in Bodie Hills, California, during the Parker Meadows translocation project. Credit: Dan Hottle/USFWS   Story and photos by Dan Hottle May 4, 2017 Earth Day meant moving day this year for a group of bi-state greater sage grouse along the California-Nevada border as part of a multi-agency project to save an imperiled sub-population of birds having a difficult time successfully reproducing new young on their own. "Capturing and moving birds from Bodie Hills is critical to improving the genetic characteristics of the birds at Parker because we're adding more diverse females and a few more males onto its leks (mating grounds) in hopes that they'll breed more successfully this year," said Mary Meyerpeter, a USGS biological science technician, whose team spent a week of long overnights beginning on Earth Day, April 22, 2017, tracking, capturing, measuring and moving about 17 birds. The bi-state birds are a genetically distinct population and the westernmost location of the greater sage grouse, whose range encompasses nearly 260,000 square miles across 11 western states. Continue to full story...     Biologists, beetles and black lights The rarely seen Casey's June beetle spends a majority of its life underground and only briefly emerges to mate during the spring.  U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists Noelle Ronan and Chris Gregory have set out on a quest to research the population size and natural history of this beetle, which Noelle describes as "fascinating and pretty cool."  Credit: Joanna Gilkeson/USFWS   Story and photos by Joanna Gilkeson May 2, 2017 The Casey's June beetle lives in and near a 3.5 mile stretch of the Palm Canyon Wash in Palm Springs, Calif., and nowhere else on earth. A secretive, slightly fuzzy insect that spends almost all of its life underground, the beetle was listed as endangered under the Endangered Species Act in 2011, due to a loss of 96 percent of its habitat. U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service biologists Noelle Ronan and Chris Gregory have set out on a quest to research the population size and natural history of this beetle, which Noelle describes as "fascinating and pretty cool." Continue to full story...     Stay Connected with U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region     This email was sent using GovDelivery, on behalf of: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service Pacific Southwest Region · 2800 Cottage Way · Suite W-2606 · Sacramento, CA 95825