The Obama administration said the greater sage grouse does not require Endangered Species Act protections, walking a fine line with its assertion that economic development and preservation can coexist across the bird’s 11-state range.
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U.S. Rep. Jared Polis, a Boulder Democrat whose congressional district extends into the foothills and onto the Western Slope, has spearheaded the sage grouse conservation effort in Congress, guest-chairing a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the subject and co-sponsoring amendments to keep the effort going. On Tuesday Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced the listing would not be needed. Oregon was a leader in these cooperative efforts, with many ranchers having signed conservation agreements. “But today we welcome this huge opportunity for science-based conservation groups to partner with federal and state governments as well as the ranching community to measure the effectiveness of management plans across all 11 sage grouse states”. “Through the comprehensive initiatives on both public and private lands, the partnership has made and will continue to make monumental strides in supporting the people and wildlife that depend on the sagebrush landscape”.
“Sportsmen have actively engaged in efforts to avoid the necessity of listing the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act, and we are gratified by the Service’s ruling”, said Chris Mero, chairman of the Backcountry Hunters and Anglers Nevada chapter. More information on the plans is available here.
In July, Boulder Weekly, published an in-depth look at these management plans and their shortcomings, particularly how they relate to the oil and gas industry’s effect on the sage-grouse.
To prevent this from happening, conservation efforts and population trend analysis will remain ongoing with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as plans and projects continue everywhere sage grouse are found.
With the sage-grouse population having declined by almost 80% over the past century, the debate about whether to list the species has ramped up in recent years.
The U.S Fish and Wildlife Service A male sage grouse inflates its air sacs and flares its tail feathers during the species’ annual spring breeding ritual.
Federal officials deem that state-led efforts are sufficient to protect the bird’s habitat for the near future.
Erik Molvar, a wildlife biologist at the environmental group WildEarth Guardians, said that in his view, “somewhere along the way science got pushed to the side and political agendas took over the process” of decision making inside the Department of the Interior. These tend to be drier uplands where the birds mate, nest and spend fall and winter.
On a local level, officials say it’s too early to know if the announcement will affect the current status of the Gunnison sage-grouse but they are still paying attention with interest.
The administration also is proposing to withdraw mining claims on 10 million acres considered key grouse habitat. Through the recently-announced SGI 2.0 strategy, USDA expects voluntary, private land conservation efforts to reach 8 million acres by 2018. 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. Many of these projects also improve grazing and water supplies for ranchers, benefitting cattle herds and the long-term future of ranching in the West. For example, Wyoming has been implementing its “core area” strategy for over five years. “Ranchers with public land grazing rights work daily to minimize the major threats to sage grouse; removing fine-fuels and providing vast tracts of open space”.
The BLM and the U.S. Forest Service manage about half of the sage grouse habitat, which is located on federal land.
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.
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Some conservation groups, including the Environmental Defense Fund and National Audubon Society, said the case demonstrates that cooperation among governments and private interest groups can preserve imperiled species.
