Issues

ESA restrictions included in funding bills. On the House side: On June 10th, a House Appropriations subcommittee approved a fiscal year 2016 plan for the Department of Interior and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), including numerous policy riders linked to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Notably, the legislation would bar the Fish and Wildlife Service from preparing a potential ESA listing for the greater sage-grouse, delist wolves in the Great Lakes and Wyoming, and adjust the government’s ability to regulate ivory and the use of lead in ammunition and fishing tackle. Subcommittee chairman Ken Calvert (CA-42) said the legislation makes a “sincere effort to prioritize critical needs” in the face of “some serious challenges.” Chairman Calvert also expressed his support for the sage grouse rider, noting “States are rightfully concerned that a listing or unnecessarily restrictive federal land-use plans will jeopardize existing conservation partnerships with states and private landowners, which are necessary to save the sagebrush ecosystem.”

Interior and Environment Subcommittee ranking member Betty McCollum (MN-04) later floated an amendment to remove language barring the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the sage grouse, but the amendment fell on a party line vote of 19-32. Meanwhile, the White House has expressed “serious concerns” with the House bill.

On the Senate side: The Senate Committee on Appropriations also proposed a bill similar to the House version entitled the FY2016 Interior, Environment and Related Agencies Appropriations Bill. The Senate Appropriations Committee approved the bill on Thursday in a vote along party lines of 14-16.

The bill would continue a prohibition on the Fish and Wildlife Service from listing the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or endangered species. The bill also provides an increase of $45 million for the Bureau of Land Management to focus on sage grouse activities, as well as $19 million for responsible natural resource development activities.  Kansas Senator Jerry Moran and member of the Senate Appropriations Committee also introduced an amendment to restrict the use of funds to enforce the ESA listing of the lesser prairie chicken (LPC) as a threatened species. The amendment passed with a majority vote. Read more about the bill on the Committee’s website HERE.

IPAA supports ESA amendment to NDAA. This week, the Independent Petroleum Association of America, U.S. Oil and Gas Association, American Petroleum Institute, and Western Energy Alliance expressed their support for Senator Mike Lee’s amendment to the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) regarding the status of the greater sage-grouse and lesser prairie chicken under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

Specifically, the amendment would have placed a ten year delay on the listing of the greater sage-grouse and would institute a warranted but precluded status for the species, a decision that would necessitate continued state conservation efforts. Additionally, the amendment would immediately delist the lesser prairie chicken from the “threatened species” list, and permanently delist the American Burying Beetle as an endangered species. While the Lee amendment was withdrawn this week, a similar amendment is also included in the House of Representatives’ NDAA language. IPAA’s ESA Watch team will continue to monitor the situation as it unfolds.

Groups fighting for greater sage-grouse. From ranchers to local business owners, stakeholders across the west are concerned about a federal listing of the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). In an Op-Ed in The Hill this week, president of the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association Danni Beer outlined some of the concerns his members have over the proposed listing, highlighting the importance of collaboration with landowners and government to balance conservation and continued production. As Beer highlights in his remarks:

“Thus far, the critical role of ranchers’ efforts have kept the sage grouse from a listing.  Although we have not yet avoided the necessity of a listing altogether, today we are confident that by working side by side and building on the extraordinary progress we have already made, we can conserve this species and further prove ‘what’s good for the bird is good for the herd.’”

Randy Looper, owner of the Elk Run Inn in Craig, Colorado, also expressed his concerns over the grouse in the Craig Daily Free Press. As he highlights, the health and future of the grouse is directly tied to the economy in his town and the region. From his remarks:

“Our local economy benefits from the revenue generated by the people across the world that come to northwest Colorado to watch sage grouse. Studies show that visitors to the BLM sagebrush lands in the 11 western states with greater sage grouse habitat spent approximately $623 million within 50 miles of the recreation sites in 2013. As small, locally owned businesses in Moffat Country, I feel strongly that it is in the best interest of the sage grouse and our economy in Colorado to develop a balanced use of the bird’s habitat on public lands to ensure hunting and other recreation can continue for years to come. The best scenario for the recovery of Greater Sage Grouse is strong collaboration by communities, industry, state and federal agencies to avoid the need for federal intervention.”

Peter Van De Carr, president of Backdoor Sports in Steamboat Springs, Colorado, also stated in a letter in the Denver Post, “As a local resident and business owner in greater sage grouse country, I strongly encourage Gov. John Hickenlooper and our U.S. senators to stand up for Colorado businesses and support strong plans for sage grouse conservation.” A listing for the greater sage-grouse is due by September 30th, 2015.

In the News

**Want to learn more about the northern long-eared bat and the 4(d) rule? Check out ESA Watch’s new species page HERE for more information.**

Sage grouse war tests limits of partnership in West. Science Magazine. That dramatic decline has made the sage grouse—a large, pointy-tailed bird with showy mating habits—the subject of one of the biggest endangered-species battles ever in the United States. President Barack Obama’s administration is under court order to decide by 30 September how to protect the bird: declare it an endangered species—the nuclear option in conservation—or opt for the less onerous conservation strategies that officials are testing on its fellow rangeland bird, the lesser prairie chicken (see “Feature: Researchers push to prevent a last dance for the lesser prairie chicken”).

BLM has good plans for sagebrush country. Montana Standard (Op-Ed). Luckily, the BLM has issued a new planning document that places conservation of the remaining sagebrush habitat, hunter access and maintaining our working landscapes as it relates to grazing and even oil and gas development. The BLM did this planning so that we can maintain management of sage grouse at the state level. Kudos to the BLM for working to ensure abundant wildlife populations, working landscapes and the needs of hunters.

Drones map sage grouse’s favorite plants. E&E News (sub req’d). Scientists are using drones to map a little-known Idaho landscape west of Boise to figure out how to reduce wildfire risks and protect the sage grouse and other wildlife. The research is meant to learn more about what grows in the area so that after wildfires, land managers make sure to plant sagebrush that sage grouse like to eat and not a different kind they find unappetizing.

Obama’s climate rule would hurt manatees. The Hill. Both of the lawmakers, however, along with the vast majority of their GOP colleagues, have repeatedly railed against both the EPA’s power plant rule and the Endangered Species Act. Under the regulation, coal plants are predicted to close at more than twice the pace as otherwise planned. The owner of the Big Bend Power Station near Tampa, which hosts a designated warm-water manatee refuge and manatee sanctuary, said it is likely to shutter.

Jewell offers $10M for ‘fire resilient’ landscape projects. E&E News (sub req’d). The Fish and Wildlife Service must decide by Sept. 30 whether to propose listing the sage grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act. “The benefits of increasing the resiliency of our lands and waters to wildfires are wide-ranging, from conserving native species like the greater sage grouse to restoring rangelands, forests and watersheds,” Jewell said. “These projects support our efforts to protect our nation’s landscapes for this and future generations.”

FWS launches 8-state study of ‘take’ for Midwest wind farms. E&E News (sub req’d). The Fish and Wildlife Service yesterday announced it is taking public comment on a sweeping plan that could allow wind farms in eight Midwestern states to kill endangered birds and bats as long as they minimize and mitigate harm to those species. The Endangered Species Act generally bans humans from killing listed species. But exceptions — known as incidental take permits — are granted for companies that craft HCPs that “minimize and mitigate the impact” of harming protected species, FWS said.

Keep sage grouse decisions local. Denver Post (LTE). As a local resident and business owner in greater sage grouse country, I strongly encourage Gov. John Hickenlooper and our U.S. senators to stand up for Colorado businesses and support strong plans for sage grouse conservation. Sagebrush habitat, where sage grouse live, supports about $77 million in economic output just in Colorado, and we depend on those dollars for our thriving local economy.

Sage grouse concerns. Craig Daily Press (Op-Ed). As owner of the Elk Run Inn, I am concerned about the fate of the Greater Sage Grouse, whose habitat includes sagebrush lands here in northwest Colorado and 10 other western states and two Canadian provinces. This bird is a hot topic for discussion in Washington D.C. and among our Colorado elected officials — who all agree that conserving the bird and its habitat is a priority. It’s not clear, however, that they understand how tied our local economy is to the fate of the bird and the sagebrush it calls home.