Obama Administration: Sage Grouse Not Endangered

In the wake of the milestone decision by federal officials to not list the greater sage grouse as endangered or threatened, Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead late Tuesday said he intends to pursue a regional initiative to reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA) as incoming Western Governors’ Association (WGA) chairman.

Lauded by many groups as an example of unprecedented collaboration among businesses, scientists, ranchers, government land agencies and environmental groups to conserve sagebrush habitat, this decision came after years of uncertainty that has anxious ranchers and mining industry in the American west who believe that listing the bird under ESA could jeopardize their economy. At town halls in Eastern Oregon last week, I heard strong concerns with the Bureau of Land Management’s sage grouse plans. We’ve proved that the old way of doing things may not be sustainable. “We created new rules that ensure future land use and economic development is consistent with the conservation of the sage grouse”.

Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the greater sage grouse does not warrant protection under the Endangered Species Act during a press conference at Colorado’s Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge, September 22, 2015.

The greater sage grouse is an umbrella species that is emblematic of the health of the sagebrush habitat it shares with more than 350 other kinds of wildlife, including world-class populations of mule deer, elk, pronghorn and golden eagles.

Last year, Fish and Wildlife chose to list the Gunnison sage grouse of Colorado and Utah as a threatened species, a decision being challenged by Colorado. In April, Fish and Wildlife decided against listing the Mono Basin sage grouse, a genetically distinct population of the greater sage grouse that lives along the Nevada-California line. He says the faulty science used in the federal plans for sage grouse protections likely mean wildlife groups like his will fight the decision in court. These tend to be drier uplands where the birds mate, nest and spend fall and winter.

Researchers say the sage-grouse is not only vital in of itself, but also because the bird is an indicator of how healthy sagebrush habitat is. Rob Bishop, a Republican, both saying they would try to use their positions to scale back the authority of federal agencies over land in the West.

Conservation leaders say that federal and state agencies must continue to follow through collaborative conservation work, and that sportsmen and women must continue to oppose attempts by lawmakers to hinder those plans.

He said during Tuesday’s event that although he inherited his father’s distrust of the federal government, he raised his daughter to help him tie markers on ranch fences to keep sage grouse from flying into them and getting killed. That’s more than a third of the animal’s total range and does not include millions of acres of private land shielded by conservation easements. She said the people of Wyoming are doing their part, now the federal government officials need to do their part, as well, to implement the core area strategy, faithfully. The state is now asking the federal government to approve a “habitat exchange” program, allowing oil and gas companies to pay private landowners to improve sage grouse habitat.

The federal plans also are far more restrictive in new leases for oil and gas sites in primary sage grouse habitat. Colorado, Utah, Nevada and Idaho have also developed strategies to improve state and private land management to benefit the sage grouse.

“The sage grouse was going to be the spotted owl for the livestock grazing industry”, he said, referring to federal wildlife protections approved 25 years ago that greatly impeded the logging industry.

Bennett is especially leery because of a report that showed the sage grouse population in Baker County had declined by about 70 percent over the past decade or so. The FWS has found conservation measures will slow and then stabilize the loss of habitat across the range, securing the species success into the future.