CPW Gunnison's Sage Grouse Shapefile Download

Updated December, 2025 BROOD AREA: Areas supporting Gunnison's sage grouse broods. This generally includes wet areas such as meadows, springs, ponds and streams which all function as important brood rearing sites. To be mapped as a 200m (.124 mile) buffer zone around the edges of such wet sites. HISTORIC HABITAT: Areas where viable populations have not occurred in five years or more. OVERALL RANGE: An area which encompasses all mapped seasonal activity areas within the observed range of a population of Gunnison's sage grouse. PRODUCTION AREA: An area that would include the majority of important Gunnison's sage grouse nesting habitat. Mapped as a buffer zone of four miles around an active lek. As of 9/18/2016 these buffer zones are no longer clipped to GunnSageGrouseOverallRange. SEVERE WINTER: That part of the winter range where 90 percent of the individuals are located when annual snowpack is at its maximum and/or temperatures are at a minimum in the two worst winters out of ten. The winters of 1983-84, or 96-97 are good examples. WINTER RANGE: Observed winter range. OCCUPIED HABITAT: Gunnison sage grouse GIS data set identifying occupied habitats in Colorado. Areas of suitable habitat known to be used by sage-grouse within the last 10 years from the date of mapping. Areas of suitable habitat contiguous with areas of known use, which do not have effective barriers to sage-grouse movement from known use areas, are mapped as occupied habitat unless specific information exists that documents the lack of sage-grouse use. Mapped from any combination of telemetry locations, sightings of sage grouse or sage grouse sign, local biological expertise, GIS analysis, or other data sources. This information was derived from Colorado Parks and Wildlife field personnel. Data was captured by digitizing through a SmartBoard Interactive Whiteboard using topographic maps and NAIP imagery at various scales (Cowardin, M., M. Flenner. March 2003. Maximizing Mapping Resources. GeoWorld 16(3):32-35). These data are updated on a four year rotation with one of the four Colorado Parks and Wildlife Regions updated each year. These data are not updated on a statewide level annually.