Kent  L. Christopher Sagebrush Restoration Project at Camas NWR.

Kent Christopher (August 4, 1953 – March 23, 2008) was an organizer of the North American Grouse Partnership and the founder of Dubois Grouse Days.  He was a champion of sage grouse conservation in the open spaces of the Upper Snake River Plain, where the sky is wide and the hawks fly high.

Kent Christopher Sagebrush Restoration Site

To assist with Trumpeter Swan recovery in the 1960s, sagebrush habitat was removed from portions of the Camas National Wildlife Refuge to farm small grain. Today, these fields are no longer needed for recovered swans, but are needed for sage-grouse if restoration of the sagebrush ecosystem is possible. In addition, successful restoration would demonstrate that previously farmed areas can be restored to healthy sagebrush habitat. There were several partners for this project, including Dubois Grouse Days. Restoration took place over 3 years at the initial project site and included a prescribed burn, herbicide application to remove non-native vegetation, native grass seeding, and finally, planting of sagebrush starts. Additional grain fields on the Refuge will be restored in the future. Kent Christopher’s vision of saving native habitats lives on through this project.

With sage grouse populations in Idaho near an all time low at the turn of the 21^st century, the goal of this project was to improve brood rearing habitat for grouse nesting nearby.  The effort begin in 2007 when funding and support was secured from the Rocky Mountain Foundation, the Upper Snake Sage Grouse Local Working Group, the Idaho Office of Species Conservation, North American Grouse Partnership, Dubois Grouse Days, Idaho Department of Fish and Game, and the US Fish and Wildlife Service. 

Phase I of on-the-ground rehabilitation begin in 2008 on a 20-acre plot of formerly irrigated cropland to demonstrate the feasibility of returning abandoned agricultural land to premier sage grouse brood rearing habitat.  This restoration project is the result of Kent Christopher’s vision. 

May his spirit forever soar like a hawk.