Sage grouse may be known for their elaborate courtship displays in the Sage Brush Sea of Western North America, but conserving the species has raised their profile to the national level as private land owners, public land managers and state and federal fish and wildlife agencies worked together in partnership to change the paradigm of a species in peril. In this episode, we talk to ODFW sage grouse conservation coordinator Skyler Vold and OSU Associate Professor Christian Hagen about the species' profile in Oregon. We cover their biology, conservation efforts and hunting these fascinatingly iconic birds.

Mussel fatigue, it's a thing. In fact, our freshwater mussels are strained and in need of some attention. This week's Beaver State Podcast looks at Oregon's freshwater mussels through the lens of a large-scale habitat improvement project along Murderer's Creek in the John Day Basin. This creek happens to have very high mussel populations, so biologists are studying the impacts of the habitat improvements on the local mussel populations and trying to answer the question: What happens when you move a mussel?

Black-tailed deer are called Pacific ghosts for a reason. They can be amazingly elusive thanks to a highly developed sense of place. We talked to Douglas District Wildlife Biologist Tod Lum and Charleston District Wildlife Biologist Stuart Love about black-tailed deer biology, life history strategy and what it takes to pursue these amazing deer across some of the thickest, rain-saturated terrain in the Oregon Coast Range or high up in the heavily timbered Cascade Mountains.

Band-tailed pigeons nearly went the way of their now-extinct cousins, passenger pigeons. But these mountain-dwelling pigeons got a reprieve from market hunting through the passage of the Migratory Bird Treaty Act and have since recovered as a species. For this episode, we talked to ODFW migratory gamebird coordinator Brandon Reishus and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Pacific Flyway Representative Todd Sanders to learn more about the biology and life history strategy of these fascinating forest pigeons that are among the most fun and challenging of gamebirds to hunt.

The Beaver State Podcast takes you on a road trip through the Ochoco Mountains with district wildlife biologist Greg Jackle to explore the region's habitat, wildlife and recreational opportunities.

We spent some time with biologist Jamie Bowles talking about her research of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in Oregon's Cascade Mountains. Populations of Sierra Nevada Red Fox in California are declining, so the Oregon research may end up helping any recovery efforts as biologists look at the life history strategies of these unique, high-elevation foxes in different states.

Jon Nelson and Alicia Wolfe use Instagram to communicate about Oregon's unique wildlife. As biologists and communicators, they translate the critters and the places they explore through the lenses of cameras and trail cameras to bring them to life while making sure they're protected and undisturbed. We talked to them about how to watch wildlife and explore Oregon's amazing places without leaving an impact or stressing out our amazing wild animals.

Pauline Baker, director of rehab at Central Oregon's ThinkWild, spends a lot of time talking to people on the phone, because many animals that people think they should take to rehab don't actually need it. But when they do need it, there are a few pathways to success that professional rehabbers like Baker can use to help increase the chances of a successful recovery and release back into the wild.

Every two years, Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife staff embark on a week-long process of hauling fingerling trout to ski resorts in the Cascade Mountains, where they have a date with a helicopter and a special Aerial Stocking Device and a sky dive into an alpine lake. Many of these fish spend the summer eating aquatic and terrestrial insects and growing larger, until they grow to legal size the next year. ODFW's Recreational Fishing Managers, Mike Gauvin tells us this reseeding the high lakes effort is popular with anglers seeking the solitude and beauty of fishing these remote lakes.

No, your hunting and fishing license fees do not go to the general fund. We're mythbusting the ODFW budget in this episode of the Beaver State Podcast with ODFW director Curt Melcher and Deputy Director Erica Kleiner. We tackle questions about ODFW's fancy, new-ish headquarters in Salem, which actually saves the agency money, the new Electronic Licensing System, which also saves money, where your license and tag money goes, how the budget gets approved and how you can get involved in that process.

Rated slightly nerdy