Montana officials praise sage grouse decision, but criticize federal

Audubon Rockies Executive Director Brian Rutledge says even though the bird isn’t being listed, this plan will help save the species.

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 agency determined that efforts to improve that habitat – and thus help the species – means the animal does not face the risk of extinction now or in the foreseeable future.

The plans aim to balance sage-grouse conservation with grazing, energy development, and other priority land use issues in the West. And while the foundation is now set, that’s exactly how we should look at these plans-as the starting point in sage-grouse and sagebrush conservation, a flexible framework that can adapt appropriately to the needs of the bird and the landscape on which it depends. She shared the stage with the governors of Colorado, Wyoming and Montana at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal Wildlife Refuge outside Denver. The Fish and Wildlife Service reports that some populations have rebounded and others may still see declines until conservation efforts are implemented.

“This is truly a historic effort – one that represents extraordinary collaboration across the American West”, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said in announcing the ruling.

Elected officials and interest groups gave a mix of praise and condemnation.

“That will be a BLM decision”, Jankovsky said, adding the county will need to review the agency’s official records of decision finalizing the land-use plans that were also released on Tuesday. Over the last century, they lost roughly half their habitat to development, livestock grazing and an invasive grass that’s encouraging wildfires in the Great Basin of Nevada and adjoining states.

It’s a bird, that apparently has a flamboyant mating dance, that lives in the sage brush of the desert of 11 western states.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service approved new sage grouse policies for 10 of the 11 states, including Utah.

“Greater sage grouse have been in precipitous decline for years and deserve better than what they’re getting from the Obama administration”, said Randi Spivak with the Center for Biological Diversity. “In many cases landowners were the initial ones who put together and were the leaders in in some of these local groups to get things started”, he said. “The announcement not to list the sage grouse is a cynical ploy”, Bishop said in a prepared statement. “But to say it takes a village is a gross understatement”.

The ranking Democrat on Bishop’s committee, Raul Grijalva (gree-HAHL’-vuh) of Arizona, says the chairman’s criticism lacks credibility and compares it to a game of “Mad Libs” since Republicans attack the president both when a species is listed as endangered and when one isn’t.

The Obama administration has poured hundreds of millions of dollars into conservation measures in hopes of patching together enough sagebrush habitat to ensure the bird’s long-term survival.

Some are cheering that the sage grouse species is growing, however, others are saying this decision to remove it from a protected list only allows the federal government to control the land and its habitat. This was its final decision on this controversial topic.

Although the sage grouse’s habitat has historically included New Mexico, the Interior Department says the bird hasn’t been seen in the state for decades.