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- Nancy Christel: Usually,
we start at about

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4 o'clock in the morning.

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- Angela Fitzgerald:
Under the cover of darkness,

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wildlife biologist
Nancy Christel drives north

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from her home base in Spooner

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to the Namekagon Barrens
Wildlife Area.

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- We wanna be on site at least
45 minutes before sunlight.

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This morning, oh my gosh,
it was barely in time.

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- Angela: Barely a heartbeat

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before the landscape begins
a wild awakening.

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[grouse call]

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Long before she sees them
in the moonlight,

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she can hear subtle tremors
on the prairie.

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[grouse call]

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- [whispers]
It's a beautiful day.

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[jaunty music]

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Sharp-tailed grouse are pretty
rare species in Wisconsin.

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- Angela: Nancy bears witness
to an ancient rhythm

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as old as the natural world.

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An intricate courtship dance

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from one of our state's
most unique birds.

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- Nancy: All the guys
hype each other up

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and they start dancing around

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and puffing out
their nice purple sac.

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They put their pointy white tail
up in the air,

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and then they stick out their
nice orange eyebrow.

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And their goal is to do
the best dance.

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I love to dance,

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so to have a bird that
really has some good steps

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and can bring some liveliness
to the grounds,

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I think that
that is pretty cool.

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- Angela: The male grouse
are the only dancers,

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and they work the prairie floor
to attract females.

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- Nancy: The females seem to act
like, "Ah, no big deal.

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I'm not even looking at you."

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But of course, they're watching
and they're paying attention.

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- Angela: The champions
of the grassland

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hold their dancing duel

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in a prairie location
called a lek.

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- Ours had 22 males on it and 6
females that came this morning,

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but of all those males,
you just get one lucky guy,

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and that one lucky guy
is the only one

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that is going to be sharing
its genes out in the world.

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- Angela: Each spring
in the pre-dawn chill,

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Nancy and her team do a survey
of sharp-tailed grouse.

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- Nancy: The reason we do it

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is to really keep track of what
we have for a population

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of what is really
a rare species.

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- Angela: She counts the birds

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and looks for expansion
of traditional mating grounds.

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- Nancy: So, the sharp-tailed
grouse, I think,

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are really cool.

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The females come and visit,
they fly up into trees,

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they run along the edge,

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and so it's really tough
to be counting the females.

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- Angela:
For more than 26 years,

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Nancy has brought her passion
for wildlife

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to the Department
of Natural Resources.

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Her job:
to manage this ecosystem,

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ensuring all native species
can thrive and survive

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in this sanctuary.

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- I come to work

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and I know that I have habitat
that needs to be maintained

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and I have species
that need to be managed.

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So, for me, a great day
is when I'm able to go out

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and see kind of the benefits
of all the work that we do

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to manage the property and have
it for the public to come

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and view the sharp-tails.

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That is a really good day.

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- Angela: Nancy's workplace
is a wildlife area

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filled with a desolate beauty

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that you will not find
anywhere else on the planet.

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- Nancy: It is true that this is
the only place in the world

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that you can go
and find pine/oak barrens

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in these northwest sands.

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It also is a globally rare
habitat type.

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[bird caws]

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And it's got such a diversity
of grasses

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and flowers and shrubs.

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- Angela:
Nancy has a deep connection

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to this untamed wilderness

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and the creatures
that inhabit it.

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- You'd never have seen a show
like this

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when I first moved here.

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They might be thinking about
leaving.

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[wings flutter]

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Pretty cool, aren't they?

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I get satisfaction
out of my job. [tent zips]

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When I go home to my family,

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I can go home happy
that I had a good day

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and just feel as though
I'm making a difference,

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even if it's a small,
little thing.

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Like, that just makes me
feel good all the time.

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- Angela: Reclaiming this
unusual landscape

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is a job both rich in research
and rewards,

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and that is Nancy's
core motivation.

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- When they're out dancing
and everything,

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they end up just kind of losing
feathers here and there,

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and then we can use that
for genetics.

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If you're going to do something
in life, every day,

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you should be something
that's fun and enjoyable.

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It's a cool-looking one.

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Those kinds of things
are pretty great.

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[grouse calls]