Sage Grouse Bird Does Not Need Protection, U.S. Decides

The plight of the grouse – a key indicator species for the vanishing sagebrush ecosystem of the American prairie – has pitted conservation groups against oil and gas drilling, wind farms, cattle grazing and housing development interests in one of the biggest industry-versus-nature controversies in decades.

Sarah Greenberger made the comments after the U.S. Interior Department said Tuesday that the bird does not need to be listed as threatened or endangered across its 11-state Western range.

A long-simmering debate in the American West over an imperiled ground-dwelling bird was headed for climax on Tuesday with the Obama administration expected to unveil a conservation plan lacking Endangered Species Act protections.

It follows a costly conservation effort, and could help defuse a potential political liability for Democrats heading into the 2016 election.

The greater sage grouse, known for elaborate courtship dances performed by males in spring, once ranged by the millions across a broad expanse of the western United States and Canada. They’re down to several hundred thousand now with the incursion of oil and gas drilling, homes, roads and other trappings of human civilization into their habitat, the vast “sagebrush sea” in the lower open country of the West. Congress previous year voted to block Fish and Wildlife from spending money on any proceedings to change the bird’s legal status.

In particular, Bruner is concerned about federal plans to protect the bird on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands.

“Do not be fooled”, the Utah Republican said in a statement.

Rutledge coordinated closely with the state of Wyoming, ranchers, the energy industry and environmentalists to coordinate a protection plan for the bird in 2011.

It looks like the decision has been made.

The guardians charged that BLM “removed priority habitat” status from 16 million acres in the sage-grouse habitat that was deemed essential for the bird’s conservation as recent as 2013.

Wildlife advocates contend not enough has been done to limit mining, drilling and other industrial activities near crucial sage grouse breeding grounds.

The issue is of particular importance in Wyoming, which has about 40 percent of the grouse population and is a major hub for production of oil, natural gas, coal and other natural resources. The state was first to designate sage grouse core habitat where development would face certain restrictions, an approach copied by other states and Interior itself.