BirdNote Presents-Grouse

Series produced by BirdNote

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Grouse is a show about the most controversial bird in the West and what it can teach us about hope, compromise and life in rural America.

The Greater Sage-Grouse has eclipsed the Spotted Owl as perhaps the most controversial North American bird in the 21st century. These strange, wonderful birds live exclusively in the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West. But they are in decline, and protecting them has sparked fights between stakeholders across the region. Host Ashley Ahearn is a newcomer to sagebrush country, and she uses her personal journey — as an outsider trying to understand rural life — to serve as the proxy for listeners. She went from filing news stories on deadline to herding cows on horseback — and she talks about it in the show, weaving together her flailing attempts to understand country life with her quest to understand what it is about the Greater Sage-Grouse that gets so many people riled up.

Grouse is an eight-part podcast series produced in partnership with BirdNote Presents and distributed in collaboration with Boise State Public Radio. Hide full description

The Greater Sage-Grouse has eclipsed the Spotted Owl as perhaps the most controversial North American bird in the 21st century. These strange, wonderful birds live exclusively in the sagebrush steppe of the Intermountain West. But they are in decline, and protecting them has sparked fights between stakeholders across the region. Host Ashley Ahearn is a newcomer to sagebrush country, and she uses her personal journey — as an outsider trying to understand rural life — to serve as the proxy for listeners. She went from filing news stories on deadline to herding cows on horseback — and she talks about it in the show, weaving together her flailing attempts to understand country life with her quest to understand what it is about the Greater Sage-Grouse that gets so many people riled up. ... Show full description


8 Pieces

Order by: Newest First | Oldest First
Piece image
In the final episode of Grouse, host Ashley Ahearn returns to a lek in Washington with biologist Michael Schroeder and finds it scorched by recent ...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 28:42
  • Purchases: 2
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Environmentalists and politicians love the phrase “common ground.” In the latest episode of Grouse, host Ashley Ahearn explores the role of comprom...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 24:30
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
No matter how we feel about it, the natural gas industry is an important player in our national energy supply — and the future of sage-grouse. Can ...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 21:29
  • Purchases: 2
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What can the Greater Sage-Grouse teach us about our relationships with the Earth and one another? Ashley Ahearn turns to Wilson Wewa, an elder of t...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 22:59
  • Purchases: 2
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Can we have beef and sage-grouse? Host Ashley Ahearn talks with scientists trying to answer that question — and an Idaho cattle rancher who’s findi...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 24:58
  • Purchases: 2
Piece image
Wildfire is destroying millions of acres of sage-grouse habitat across the west. Ashley heads to Nevada to meet people who are fighting to help sag...

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 20:37
  • Purchases: 2
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Host Ashley Ahearn joins biologist Mike Schroeder on a quest to find sage-grouse in snowy eastern Washington.

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 19:32
  • Purchases: 2
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Award-winning radio journalist Ashley Ahearn leaves Seattle for sagebrush country — and develops an obsession with a strange and wonderful bird.

Bought by KICI Iowa City and KRZA


  • Added: Jan 11, 2021
  • Length: 19:33
  • Purchases: 2