They're in one of the most remote parts of the United States, to see something spectacular that happens every year.

他們位於美國最偏遠的角落，來欣賞每年都會發生的美景。

An icon of the American West.

美國西部的經典美景。

This is a sage grouse.

這是艾草松雞。

And this is its mating dance.

而這是牠們的求偶舞。

The sage grouse once numbered in the millions across this entire region.

艾草松雞曾在這一整塊區域盤據一方。

But today, they are on the verge of endangerment.

但現今，他們正處於絕種邊緣。

And the area they live on has shrunk by half.

牠們生存的棲息地已縮小了一半。

That's a problem.

這是個問題。

And not just because it's fun to look at.

且不僅僅是因為觀賞牠們很有趣。

It's because the sage grouse is actually really important.

是因為艾草松雞其實非常重要。

And to understand why, you have to understand its dance.

為了明白其中原因，你得先了解牠的舞步。

This is a female sage grouse.

這是一隻母艾草松雞。

And this is a male sage grouse.

而這是一隻公艾草松雞。

During mating season, it's big and flamboyant looking, all so that it can attract mates.

交配季時，牠們會變得很豔麗且大隻，只為了吸引配偶。

It's sort of like a peacock in that way.

有點像孔雀開屏的概念。

The spiky tail, the puffed out chest - they don't serve a clear function except to be attractive.

刺狀的尾巴與膨脹的胸膛除了求偶外沒有其他作用。

These white feathers on its chest are rough and spiky.

這些胸前的白色羽毛很粗糙且刺刺的。

And for the first step of its dance, the sage-grouse takes a deep breath, and it swishes its wings against those spiky feathers.

艾草松雞求偶舞的第一步是，牠們會深呼吸，然後揮動翅膀摩擦胸前刺刺的羽毛。

It sounds like this this.

聽起來就像這樣。

These yellow things are its vocal sac.

這些黃色的東西是牠們的聲囊。

It's actually one esophagus with a strong muscle in the center.

其實就是一條食道加上中心有強健肌肉。

When the sage grouse takes in a gulp of air, it contracts.

當艾草松雞吸入一大口氣，聲囊就會收縮。

When it breathes out, the vocal sac pops.

而當牠吐氣時，聲囊就會發出聲音。

That sounds like this.

聽起來像這樣。

Female sage grouse can hear these sounds from up to two miles away.

母艾草松雞在兩英里外就能聽到這些聲音。

And then it's a competition.

接下來就是一場硬戰。

The strongest male dancers crowd out the weaker ones.

最強壯的公舞者會排擠掉弱者。

The winner gets to mate with most of the females.

贏家可以和大多數的母艾草松雞交配。

After they mate, the females go up to ten miles away to nest.

交配後，母艾草松雞會離開至最遠十英里外去築巢。

But this arena, where the competition goes down, that place stays the same every year.

但結束後，這個戰場會留下，每年都會在同一個地方再次競賽。

Sage grouse live across this whole vast area.

艾草松雞在這整個寬闊的區域都有足跡。

But year after year, they each come back to do the courtship ritual in the same exact spot - one of these blue dots.

年復一年，牠們都會回到同一個地點求偶，也就是畫面上藍色的點。

It's why sage-grouse watchers always know where to find them.

這也是為何賞艾草松雞者都知道要去哪裡找到牠們。

That mating area is called a lek.

這種交配的點稱作求偶場。

And it's a big part of why sage grouse matter so much.

這也是艾草松雞如此重要的原因之一。

Coming back to the same place every year means that sage grouse are really easy to keep track of.

每年都會回到同一個地方，這表示艾草松雞是種非常容易追蹤的動物。

Some leks have been monitored by researchers for more than 75 years.

研究者已追蹤某些求偶場超過 75 年。

They're so easy to count that conservationists consider them an indicator species.

牠們的數量很好掌握，所以環境保育學家稱牠們為指標種。

That means they use the number of sage grouse as a sort of proxy for how healthy the entire sagebrush ecosystem is.

這表示保育學家會以艾草松雞作為代表，來看整個生態系統有多健康。

If sage grouse are doing well, there's a good chance that elk, and pygmy rabbits, and the 350 plant and animal species in the region are doing okay too.

若艾草松雞情況不錯，有很大的機會駝鹿、侏儒兔與其他 350 種在這個區域的動植物，情況都還不錯。

That also means that if you want to protect wildlife in the American West, figuring out how to protect the sage grouse is a good strategy.

這也代表，如果你想保護美國西部的野生動物，找出如何保護艾草松雞是個好策略。

In 2008, Wyoming implemented a new policy aimed at protecting the bird.

2008 年時，懷厄明州實施一項新法律來保護此種鳥類。

It ended up also having major benefits for another animal - the mule deer.

結果也使當地另一種動物大大受惠——騾鹿。

But because sage grouse are so easy to count, we also know that they are in trouble.

也因為艾草松雞的數量很容易數清，這也讓我們得知了，牠們有危險了。

The lek is where the sage grouse mates, but it's just the epicenter of a much larger range where they live.

求偶場是艾草松雞交配的地方，但那只是牠們棲息地的一個小中心點而已。

And in order for them to keep coming back to the lek to reproduce, sage grouse need the entire range to be undisturbed.

為了可以不斷回到求偶場繁殖，艾草松雞需要整個棲息地都不受打擾。

That means if human activity alters this range, they tend to not return to the lek - they don't reproduce.

這表示，若人類活動改變了該處，牠們就不會回到求偶地——這表示牠們就不會繼續繁殖。

Montana started keeping track of sage grouse leks in 2002.

蒙大拿州從 2002 年開始追蹤艾草松雞求偶地的數量。

Since then, their population in the state has fallen by nearly half.

從那時起，牠們的在這州的數量便少了幾乎一半。

There are a lot of reasons for this decline: invasive plant species, wildfires, but a big one is drilling and mining.

有數個原因造成牠們數量的降低－入侵種植物、野火，但最大的原因還是鑽探石油與採礦。

Western states have increased production dramatically in recent years.

西部的州近年來產量大幅上升。

A huge amount of new oil.

大量的石油。

Oil, coal, and natural gas dominates the landscape and the economy.

石油、煤礦與天然氣控制了地面與經濟。

Wyoming has the most sage grouse of any state.

懷厄明州有最多的艾草松雞。

Here's a map of leks in Wyoming.

這是懷厄明州求偶地的地圖。

And these are oil and gas fields.

而這些是石油與天然氣採集地。

In 2015, governors from four states announced a plan with the federal government to protect the sage grouse.

2015 年時，四州州長與聯邦政府聯合發表一項保護艾草松雞的計畫。

It banned mineral mining across ten million acres of sage grouse habitat.

該計畫禁止在艾草松雞棲息地內，千萬英畝的採礦活動繼續進行。

And it restricted oil and gas leasing in 13,000 square miles of the most critical habitat areas.

且限制石油與天然氣於重要棲息地 13,000 平方英畝中的開採執照。

It was hailed as the largest conservation effort in U.S. history.

這被稱為美國歷史以來，最大的環保保育勝利。

But today, Donald Trump's administration isn't enforcing the restrictions on oil and gas leasing.

但現在，川普政府並沒有執行開採石油與天然氣的限制。

And it canceled the ban on mining here.

他們也取消了對採礦的禁令。

And the numbers reflect that: since he took office, oil and gas leasing on public land in the U.S. has skyrocketed.

數字反映了一切，自從川普入主白宮，美國公有地石油與天然氣開採執照的發放數量便急速上升。

And on land the 2015 plan was supposed to protect, leasing has gone up tenfold.

這 2015 年發表的計畫原意是要保護環境，但現在開採執照卻上升十倍。

Today, officials predict that sage grouse numbers will keep falling.

現在，官方預測艾草松雞的數量會繼續下降。

The sage grouse is an indicator species.

艾草松雞為指標種。

It means that the sage grouse can tell you a lot about the health of the entire sagebrush ecosystem across the American West.

這表示觀察艾草松雞可以得知整個美國西部生態圈的健康狀況。

But they can also indicate something about American policy.

但也可從牠們身上看出美國的政策。

About the power that fossil fuel and mining companies have over government.

關於石油燃料公司的權力，是如何壓過政府的。

About what we choose to protect.

關於我們選擇保護什麼。

And what we don't.

與放棄什麼。