Fate of Oregon's sage grouse is Feb. 11 topic

Christian Hagen, a researcher at Oregon State University, will present "Disappearance of the Sage Grouse in Oregon" on Feb. 11 in Portland.

He is the next speaker in the Our Natural World Presentation Series sponsored by Oregon Wildlife, a non-profit conservation and education group.

The presentation is at 6:30 p.m. in the Billy Frank Jr. Conference Center, Ecotrust Building, 721 NW Ninth Ave.

Hagen served as sage grouse coordinator for the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife and since 2011, has been a researcher and associate professor at OSU. In recent months he has been conducting a research on the greater sage grouse, with the research paid for in part by Oregon Wildlife.

Sage grouse populations have dropped by about 50 percent since European settlement, and the number of birds in Oregon has followed a similar pattern because of factors such as wildfires. Hagen will talk about the history of the iconic Western bird and his recent research on sage grouse.

Cost: $3 for Oregon Wildlife members, $5 for non-members.

Registration is required because of limited space. Reserve your spots online at http://stjr.nl/Sage_grouse