sage grouse

noun

Updated on: 15 Apr 2018

Definition of sage grouse

: either of two large grouses (Centrocercus urophasianus and C. minimus) of the dry sagebrush plains of western North America that have mottled gray and buff plumage above with a contrasting black belly

Recent Examples of sage grouse from the Web

Last month, environmental groups cried foul over a Trump administration memo summarizing public comments on its reassessment of an Obama-era sage grouse conservation plan, which advocates say omitted almost 100,000 comments.

— Bloomberg.com, "The Newest Weapons Against Unions Are Employees," 2 Apr. 2018
Under an existing plan that has been heralded as an example of multistate, bipartisan cooperation balancing conservation and development, officials are working to safeguard and improve the land sage grouse need to flourish.

— darryl fears, idahostatesman, "It’s been a rough 2018 for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke — and it’s still January," 29 Jan. 2018
Interior is planning to auction hundreds of thousands of acres to the oil industry for leases on Wyoming land that is protected to conserve the greater sage grouse, a bird resembling a chicken that only exists in the western United States.

— darryl fears, idahostatesman, "It’s been a rough 2018 for Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke — and it’s still January," 29 Jan. 2018
Interior for several years pondered protecting the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act but chose to roll out federal land plans that were even more restrictive.

— the editorial board, WSJ, "Washington’s Wild Grouse Chase," 11 Aug. 2017
That’s true for the greater sage grouse, a chicken-size bird that is found on 172 million acres in eleven western states.

— brian seasholes, National Review, "Kill Regulations to Save the Sage Grouse," 26 Sep. 2017
The greater sage grouse is doing well, thanks primarily to state and private conservation efforts.

— brian seasholes, National Review, "Kill Regulations to Save the Sage Grouse," 26 Sep. 2017
The federal sage-grouse plans threaten numerous jobs other than ranching and unintentionally harm the sage grouse in the process.

— brian seasholes, National Review, "Kill Regulations to Save the Sage Grouse," 26 Sep. 2017

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'sage grouse.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.