Long-Term Monitoring and Habitat Management Underway
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The New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) today announced the culmination of a multiyear, international effort to restore and stabilize the endangered Spruce Grouse population. The milestone is marked following the conclusion of Spruce Grouse translocations into the Adirondacks in 2025.
“Thanks to the tireless work of DEC’s wildlife biologists, technicians, and volunteers and the cooperation of our Canadian partners and partners at the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife, our State has taken a major step toward securing a future for the endangered Spruce Grouse in New York,” DEC Commissioner Amanda Lefton said. “This Spruce Grouse translocation program demonstrates how science-driven conservation, strategic planning, and international cooperation can deliver meaningful results for biodiversity for our most vulnerable species.”
The State’s Spruce Grouse Recovery Program was launched in response to dramatic population declines linked to habitat loss and fragmentation, low grouse numbers, and limited genetic diversity affecting this important State-listed endangered species. Guided by DEC’s Spruce Grouse Recovery Plan, the program aims to maintain viable populations in lowland boreal forests of the Adirondacks. Spruce Grouse are a boreal forest species at the southern edge of their range in New York State. Without intervention, New York’s isolated population is at risk of disappearing entirely.
DEC Wildlife experts from Region 6 and Central Office, in collaboration with researchers at the State University of New York at Potsdam, led this successful initiative. Since 2013, DEC staff permitted by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources and Forestry in Canada and the Department of Inland Fisheries and Wildlife in Maine introduced 363 adults (308 females, 55 males) and 711 chicks of this rare and elusive species from Canada and Maine into existing subpopulations in suitable boreal forests in the Adirondacks. With the final 50 adults released this summer, the translocation phase of the recovery program is now concluded, which represents a significant achievement in preventing the Spruce Grouse’s local extinction.
“The Spruce Grouse translocation program is an example of great results accomplished through cooperation,” said DEC Region 6 Director Randall Young. “The recovery of Spruce Grouse in New York is now more possible, thanks to the vision and work of experts from DEC and SUNY Potsdam, and through valuable partnerships with our wildlife division counterparts in Ontario and Maine.”
State University of Potsdam Department of Biology Chair Glenn Johnson said, “I am very proud of the fact that the heavy lifting of this Spruce Grouse augmentation program is finally completed, and I look forward to tracking its success here in the Adirondack Mountains. In addition, it has been a fantastic opportunity for students and me to collaborate with regional DEC biologists on a real-world problem.”
Over the course of the program, teams made annual expeditions to eastern Ontario and northern Maine to capture and transport adult birds and chicks, which were then released into Adirondack locations where Spruce Grouse were present in small numbers. The birds were carefully released in forests with optimal forest structure—consisting of spruce fir stands ranging from 35 to 45 years old—with ample blueberry shrub cover. These areas were chosen to support nesting, foraging, long-term survival, and genetic exchange with the resident Spruce Grouse population.
With translocation efforts complete, the focus now shifts to long-term monitoring and habitat management. DEC staff will conduct occupancy surveys and habitat assessments to track the persistence of the Spruce Grouse population. Data collected through these efforts will inform adaptive management strategies to ensure the continued viability of the Spruce Grouse population in New York State.
DEC remains committed to protecting and enhancing New York’s biodiversity and will continue to monitor the Spruce Grouse population and collaborate with partners to manage the unique habitats that support the species.
