From the text ... 'Sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus Bonaparte), due to their dependence upon sagebrush-grassland habitat for food and cover, are limited in distribution to the range type dominated by sagebrush, principally big sagebrush (Artemisia tridentata) but also its related species....The depletion of the rangelands was paralleled with a decline in sage grouse populations.... Patterson (1952) estimated that 50 percent of the original sage grouse range had been destroyed by settlement and civilization. Habitat was lost due to grazing, agriculture, to urban development, to industry such as oil and mining and to reclamation projects involving dams. Much of this is native rangeland that still can be reclaimed by habitat management....The prospect that fire may be a tool by which sagebrush-grassland habitats can be rejuvenated is an exciting thought. Here is a tool that is a natural regulating force to which organisms have adapted. The same cannot be said for most other means we have tried, clearing and seeding, leading to an exotic or depauperate environment for native species, or clearing large areas by mechanical means or herbicides and in doing so, removing necessary cover and possibly selectively removing food items.Treatment cost is much lower when fire is used, even when done as on the Nevada ranges where small scattered areas are treated individually. A man makes a decision and prescribes the treatment on each individual site. No other control method provides this flexibility at less than half the cost of using herbicides.'