Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society, Grantsburg, WI (2026)

The Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse (WSGS) is a private, nonprofit organization formed in 1990 by a group of sportsmen, conservationists, and citizens interested in the preservation of sharp-tailed grouse and their habitat in Wisconsin.

07/17/2026

The Bass Lake Barrens are taking shape.

More than 1,000 acres have now been restored through extensive tree removal and barrens restoration, and these aerial images show just how significant that footprint has become.

While sharp-tailed grouse aren't using Bass Lake yet, this work is building something much bigger. Bass Lake is a critical habitat stepping stone connecting the Barnes Barrens, Oulu Grasslands, and Moquah Barrens—helping create the large, connected landscape these birds need to thrive.

Projects like this don't happen alone. Restoration has been made possible through an incredible partnership:
• Bayfield County leading brushing, tree grinding, and project coordination
• Wisconsin DNR providing prescribed fire, roller chopper equipment, and funding
• The Nature Conservancy removing smaller trees
• Private contractors completing large-scale tree cutting and roller chopping
• Federal grants, DNR funding, and Bayfield County investments making it all possible

This is what conservation looks like: agencies, nonprofits, local government, and private partners working together to restore Wisconsin's pine barrens—one acre at a time.

The habitat is coming back. Now we wait for the wildlife to follow.

04/28/2026

Spring is here, and across Wisconsin’s barrens, the sharp-tailed grouse are gathering.

At first light, on stretches of open ground shaped by time, fire, and careful stewardship, they begin their dance — feet drumming, wings held wide, each bird staking its place in a ritual as old as the landscape itself.

But these dancing grounds don’t persist on their own.

Leks exist because the habitat exists — because grasslands are restored, barrens are maintained, and someone chooses to care enough to keep them open. Without that work, the stage disappears, and the dance fades with it.

These photos, taken on the Barnes Barrens by Aidan Kingsbury, capture a moment most people never get to see — a reminder of what’s still here, and what’s at stake.

If we want to keep this piece of wild Wisconsin alive — not just as a memory, but as something you can witness on a cold spring morning — it takes commitment.

Become a member of the Wisconsin Sharptailed Grouse Society.
Help ensure there is always a place for them to dance.

04/15/2026

🌲 Prepping for fire season the old-fashioned way — and it’s part of something much bigger.

Before prescribed fire can touch the Moquah Barrens, groundwork has to happen first. With mechanical treatment still awaiting approval, a brushing crew spent the winter cutting ~21 acres of corridors and three interior openings through dense, overgrown barrens.

The goal: open the canopy, dry and cure fuels, and give spring fire the conditions it needs to push back encroachment. 🔥

This work is just one step in a restoration effort years in the making:

📌 FY2023 — 384 acres improved
📌 FY2024 — 2,289 acres improved
📌 FY2025 — 869 acres improved
📌 FY2026 — 4,503 acres planned

In three years, more than 3,500 acres of barrens habitat have been restored through prescribed fire, contract brushing, pollinator seeding, and lek maintenance — with the largest year still ahead.

After this spring’s burn, a heritage review will determine whether mechanical treatment can move forward in 2027 to reset this stand for the long term.

Slow work. Long game. The barrens are worth it. 🌾

Thank you Brian Heeringa for you continued work and dedication to this property.

04/07/2026

What does a sharp-tailed grouse hen actually need to successfully nest?

A new study out of the University of Wyoming (Kelly et al., 2025) followed GPS-marked sharp-tailed grouse hens through multiple breeding seasons, and the results reinforce something many habitat managers have seen firsthand — structure on the ground matters.

Hens consistently chose nesting sites with better concealment at ground level, scattered shrubs, and leftover vegetation from the previous year. On average, nest sites had about 15–25% more visual cover than surrounding areas, helping hide nests from predators during a critical window.

One interesting finding: hens didn’t strongly avoid wind turbines when selecting nest sites. However, once chicks hatched, birds tended to avoid developed areas, suggesting disturbance may reduce how much habitat is actually usable during brood-rearing.

The takeaway isn’t just about protecting acres — it’s about how those acres are managed. Patchy landscapes with a mix of grasses, shrubs, and residual cover appear to give sharp-tailed grouse the conditions they evolved with.

Good habitat isn’t uniform. It’s diverse, working, and intentionally managed.

Study credit: Kelly et al. 2025 — Resource Selection and Survival of Plains Sharp-tailed Grouse at a Wind Energy Facility, University of Wyoming.

04/06/2026

We’re proud to partner with Sporting Lead-Free — a hunter- and angler-led initiative focused on voluntary, education-based efforts to reduce the use of lead ammunition and tackle in the field.

At the Wisconsin Sharp-tailed Grouse Society, our work centers on restoring and maintaining the barrens landscapes that sharp-tailed grouse depend on. Healthy habitat is the foundation, but healthy wildlife populations depend on many small decisions made across the landscape.

Lead exposure is one challenge we can help address together. Birds that are wounded and not recovered often become food for raptors and other scavengers, which can then be exposed to lead fragments left in the field. Sharp-tailed grouse may face another potential risk as well — because they rely on roadside gravel to help grind food in their crop, there’s a possibility that spent pellets could be picked up alongside the grit they naturally seek.

This partnership isn’t about mandates — it’s about awareness, education, and stewardship. By learning about and considering lead-free alternatives, hunters and anglers can continue a long tradition of conservation leadership while helping reduce unintended impacts on the wildlife and ecosystems we value.

Conservation happens through habitat work, responsible harvest, and informed choices outdoors. Together, those efforts help ensure healthy populations of grouse, game birds, raptors, and other wildlife for generations to come.

03/31/2026

Big things happen when the right people, partnerships, and timing come together.

A recent habitat expansion on the Brule River State Forest didn’t happen by accident — it was the result of strong collaboration, persistence, and leadership within the Wisconsin DNR and among dedicated conservation partners. Forestry and wildlife staff worked side-by-side, using lessons learned from nearby Bayfield County efforts to help move the vision forward at the landscape scale.

There are currently two contractors active on Motts Ravine. One has already completed about 30 acres of a timber sale totaling roughly 110 acres, while a second contractor has just begun work on an additional 230-acre portion. If both sales are completed this spring, the project will reach approximately 645 open acres — nearly half of the approved total and double the size of the original core habitat area.

Dedicated DNR staff advocates, supportive forest leadership, and open-minded decision makers helped turn an idea into reality. This effort shows what’s possible when clear goals meet passionate people willing to work together for habitat and wildlife.

The bottom line: strong partnerships + good science + committed staff = real conservation progress.

This is a major step forward for prairie and barrens habitat in northern Wisconsin — and an exciting one for sharp-tailed grouse. With continued management and increasing openness across the landscape, we’re hopeful sharpies will begin colonizing the area in the coming years.

Address

Grantsburg, WI
54840

Website

https://www.wisharptails.org/

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