Big Hurdles for Greater Sage Grouse
The image of a barbed wire fence stretching across a field of prairie grasses and sage brush has been the inspiration for paintings, poems, and the general allure of the “wild wild west” for decades. However, the vast fencing infrastructure throughout eastern Montana doesn’t exist without impacts on the native species of the region.

In areas that are both summer and winter habitat, black and white markers are used to increase contrast and visibility to the birds. Photo by Tom Heely
Little Investment, Big Returns
In areas where fence must remain, the simple act of marking or “flagging” wire strands with plastic tabs increases visibility to sage grouse.

Markers placed on wire fence can reduce collision mortality by over 80%. Photo by Jeremy Roberts, Conservation Media
On average, high-risk fence segments make up about 10% of all fences in sage grouse habitat. So each mile of fence flagging has potential to reduce mortality over a much larger area.
Boots on the Ground
Because reducing collisions with fences will yield immediate and ongoing reductions in sage grouse mortality, NWF has launched a project to mark up to 250 miles of fence in areas identified as critical for species recovery in Eastern Montana. NWF is currently identifying high-risk areas, and working with landowners and land managers to locate fences within those high-risk zones.
Once fences are identified, crews will flag the top strand of fence with plastic markers, thus ensuring fences in core areas become visible, and most importantly avoidable to sage grouse.

Marked fences are a good way to mitigate the existing infrastructure of a working landscape. Photo by USDA