If you’re planning to hunt sage grouse this year, there’s a new provision.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD) is requiring sage grouse hunters to carry a new, free permit. The hope is it’ll help the agency collect more specific data on the bird, which is dwindling across the West.

Before the change, a hunter only had to carry an upland game bird license.

“We have about 60,000-ish folks that hold a license that makes it valid to hunt upland game birds, including sage grouse,” said Nyssa Whitford, WGFD sage grouse biologist. “We send harvest surveys to a small sampling of those folks each year.”

But it wasn’t guaranteed that the people receiving the surveys were sage grouse hunters. Now with the permit, WGFD can target those hunters specifically.

“And get a little bit more data, be able to learn a bit about the hunters that are hunting sage grouse and more about their efforts and whatnot,” said Whitford.

Whitford added it’s especially important with sage grouse because populations have been declining across the West for decades. They’re considered a keystone species of the greater sagebrush ecosystem – basically an indicator of how well the Western landscape is fairing. So any additional data that can be collected on the bird is crucial.

“We can then hopefully tailor our management of this iconic species a little bit better,” said Whitford.

The new sage grouse hunting permit is free and lasts a year. Every sage grouse hunter over 14 years old will be required to carry it in addition to their license. It can be picked up at a local Game and Fish office or online.