Monsanto starting sage grouse research at corporate ranch

Monsanto officials say they’ll use a large corporate ranch in a phosphate-rich area of Caribou County to research sage grouse habitat restoration on land denuded for agricultural activities. Monsanto has hired a Ph.D. involved in sage grouse work and plans to collaborate with university researchers on projects at the ranch, intended to help mitigate for the company’s planned Caldwell Canyon Mine. The mine is proposed within public land classified as general sage grouse habitat under the Bureau of Land Management’s new land-use plan, though it shouldn’t affect any active leks, which are sensitive areas where sage grouse perform elaborate mating rituals.