Issues

ESA Reform Bill Passes on House Floor. This week, the U.S. House of Representatives passed H.R. 4315, the 21st Century Endangered Species Transparency Act, by a vote of 233-190.  As Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (R-Wash.) and author of the bill describes, “while respecting the original intent of the ESA to conserve species, this bill would help make the law more effective for both species and people.”

IPAA, a long supporter of the bill, praised the passage of H.R. 4315 as an important step to advance the mission of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) while promoting increased transparency and best practice. From IPAA President Barry Russell:

“As the United States continues to experience an energy revolution thanks to the hard work of these independent producers, the anti-development movement has abused the ESA to curtail economic progress in our resource-rich regions. IPAA applauds the passage of this important bill to enhance the ESA listing process, ensuring all decisions are the result of sound transparent science – not a political desire to shut down American energy production.”

This was a scored vote for IPAA. Fourteen Democrats joined Republicans in passing the measure while eight Republicans opposed final passage.

Senator Inhofe Looks to Advance ESA Reform. This week, Senator Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.) introduced two bills regarding the listings of the Lesser Prairie Chicken and the American Burying Beetle under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

S. 2768, the American Burying Beetle Relief Act of 2014, aims to remove the beetle from the endangered list under the ESA. The species was first listed in 1989 and has remained as a listed species despite its widespread recovery. According to the Senator, “delisting the ABB is an appropriate step given the expansion of the population since 1989 and the lack of understanding about what may pose a risk to the species’ health.” Mike Means, executive vice president of the Oklahoma State Home Builders Association, and Mike Teague, Oklahoma Secretary of Energy & Environment, both applauded the Senators action as a step towards reducing the regulatory burden on energy production and construction activity in the state.  Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) is also a co-sponsor of the bill.

S. 2677, the Lesser Prairie Chicken Voluntary Recovery Act of 2014, looks to remove the recent threatened listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken for five years, enabling state conservation plans to take hold. From the Senator:

“The voluntary conservation plan established by the states enrolled 9 million acres and committed $43 million to conservation projects – a greater commitment than expected by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service …My legislation gives the states’ the opportunity to implement their plan for five years, at which point FWS will have the option to reconsider the status of the bird and its health.”

Oklahoma Farm Bureau President Tom Buchanan welcomed the bill’s introduction, stating “this bill will allow the delisting of the LPC in 5 years while Oklahoma farmers and ranchers continue to be the best stewards of their land.” Sen. Coburn, Pat Roberts (R-Kan.), Jerry Moran (R-Kan.), John Cornyn (R-Texas), and Ted Cruz (R-Texas) are also co-sponsors of the bill.

Senator Moran also highlighted the impacts the listing of the prairie chicken has already had on the Kansas economy including energy production, farming, and ranching. Earlier this month, he and Senator Pat Roberts introduced an amendment to the Bipartisan Sportsmen’s Act of 2014 that would prohibit the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Department of the Interior from altering land management practices based on the bird’s threatened listing.

IPAA Developing Comments on Critical Habitat Proposals Under the ESA. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and the National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS) have recently proposed three significant changes to their regulations and policies regarding critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act. The first of these proposed changes would alter FWS’s authority to designate areas as critical habitat that have not, nor ever, been occupied by a listed species. The change would provide FWS authorization over habitat changes that it believes will occur as a result of climate change.  The second proposal would change the definition of “destruction or adverse modification” of critical habitat. The third is a draft policy that aims to clarify how FWS will exercise its authority under section 4(b)(2) of the ESA to exclude certain areas from designation. IPAA is reviewing these proposals and developing comments to submit to the FWS and NMFS.

In the News

Sage grouse can coexist with oil production. Billings Gazette (Op-Ed).The threat of an impending threatened or endangered ruling for sage grouse has prompted many opinions about best management practices. Some writers have suggested that if it weren’t for oil and gas drilling, we’d have significantly greater sage grouse populations. On the contrary, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has identified the top threats to sage grouse in the Western United States. Energy development is not among the top five. According the USFWS, the primary threat to sage grouse is the loss of habitat due to invasive plant species like cheatgrass.

Wildfire Threatens Oil, Gas Wells in Northwest Colorado. Natural Gas Intelligence. Officials said the main focus continues to be keeping safe ranches, oil/gas wells, sage grouse habitat and major transition lines. The fire was described as burning a combination of grass, sage, pinion and juniper, along with primary sage grouse habitat south of Interstate Highway 40. Rain was in the forecast.

Conservationist Expresses Concern Over Sage Grouse Protections. Wyoming Public Media. “The fact of the matter is, that if you look at the scientific studies done in the Pinedale anticline field, and the Jonah field, and the Powder River Coal Bed methane fields, they all tell a single story, and that is: the regulations that are out there today are a recipe for extinction for Sage grouse,” he asserted. The protection measures cited in the WEA report include seasonal land use restrictions and noise reduction methods. Molvar says that if oil and gas companies continue self-managing sage grouse habitat, the grouse population will decline and ultimately require federal protection.

Service updates proposed rule changes for Mexican Wolf reintroduction, releases draft evaluation of impacts. Sonoran News. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (Service), has updated its June 2013 proposed revisions to the existing nonessential experimental population designation of the Mexican wolf under the Endangered Species Act to provide additional clarity and flexibility to effectively manage the experimental population in a working landscape.

New study shows elk avoid areas of energy development. Star Tribune. “They changed their habitat selection pattern accordingly,” he said. “They quit using their typically high use areas because they were no longer effective habitat. This is pretty common in sage grouse and pronghorn. It’s common for species to just avoid infrastructure, roads especially.”

Commission will consider joining prairie chicken suit at next meeting. Clovis News Journal. The Curry County Commission will consider an authorization for the county to join a lawsuit that’s been filed in Oklahoma to counter the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as threatened. The request to participate as a plaintiff in the complaint for violations of the Endangered Species Act and the Administrative Procedure Act was tabled during the county commission meeting on July 25.

Protecting Sage Grouse. Magic Valley (Op-Ed). According to the FWS, the top threat to sage grouse in Idaho is wildfire, while improper grazing management is considered only a secondary threat. By calling for “limiting the number of cattle grazing on public lands,” the Times-News disregards sound science and plays right into the hands of the anti-grazing activist groups who seek only to abuse the Endangered Species Act as their tool to achieve their extreme goals.

Sage grouse may get protection but not as endangered species. Durango Herald. The Bureau of Land Management Tres Rios office is drafting amendments to its management plan to improve protection of the Gunnison sage grouse habitat. The move is part of a U.S. Fish and Wildlife recommendation to adopt additional conservation measures for the rare ground bird. Just 5,000 birds remain on public lands in Dolores, San Miguel and Gunnison counties.

Three Southeast Flowers Protected Under Endangered Species Act in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee. Center for Biological Diversity (Press Release).Following an agreement with the Center for Biological Diversity to speed decisions on protection for 757 imperiled species, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today protected three flowers under the Endangered Species Act. Short’s bladderpod, fleshy-fruit gladecress and whorled sunflowers are found in Alabama, Georgia, Indiana, Kentucky and Tennessee.