The hazy blue-green Sagebrush Sea stretches out around you like the endless ocean it is named for: quiet and empty at first glance. When you look closer, however, you can start to notice the multitude of living creatures who call this place home.
This hardy landscape is best experienced slowly and with all of the senses. Your nose will tell you when sagebrush is near, its scent both sharp and soft at the same time. Brush your fingertips against the slender, tough grasses, or crumble a pinch of soil to better know its dryness. Close your eyes and listen to the way wind gathers strong across the land and moves through the downy leaves of the slow-growing sagebrush. Listen even more closely to hear the scritching of small insects in the precious shade of desert buckwheat.
Many of the creatures who live in the Sagebrush Sea have adapted to be inconspicuous, even cryptic: inclined towards camouflage in a place where it is hard to hide, and habituated to withstand the harsh climate. In certain seasons, however, the tender purple petals of the fuzzy-tongue penstemon, the tiny constellations of shooting star or the red shock of desert paintbrush punctuate the landscape, in conversation with the humming pollinators and singing birds.
Notice the shadows of winged creatures darkening the dusty ground like poured water. Standing tall, these four wings—the Brewer’s sparrow, the greater sage-grouse, the long-billed curlew and the golden eagle—describe the many essential ways in which this ecosystem supports migratory bird species.
Take your time; what do you notice about this landscape? Can you sense the abundance around you?
