Issues

No ESA Listing for Gunnison’s Prairie Dog. This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) announced the Gunnison’s prairie dog does not warrant listing under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). According to the FWS announcement in the Federal Register:

“The best available information indicates that populations of both subspecies are stable and that there are no threats causing or projected to cause either subspecies to be at risk of extinction. This action also removes the Gunnison’s prairie dog from our candidate list.”

According to the Associated Press, potential threats to the prairie dog such as agriculture, urbanization, and oil and gas operations are not seen by the FWS as threats to the species survival. WildEarth Guardians petitioned to list all populations of the prairie dog species in 2004. In 2008, only one subspecies was ruled warranting protection and WildEarth Guardians moved forward to challenge the ruling. The group’s Endangered Species Advocate Taylor Jones was critical of this week’s decision by the FWS and stated the federal government has “dodged its responsibility” to protect the species.

Proposed Bi-State Sage Grouse Cause for Concern for Nevada. News of the bi-state sage grouse’s proposed listing as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) has some Nevada residents worried.  The bi-state sage grouse, one of two sage grouse populations, inhabits roughly 1.8 million acres in California and Nevada. Last week, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) state supervisor for Nevada Ted Koch held an open house in Wellington, NV to answer residents’ questions and concerns regarding the proposed listing. While he noted the decision was not a “done deal,” many residents expressed their concerns with the proposal.

Among them was rancher Dick Huntsberger, who expressed his apprehensions given the sage grouse habitat efforts he has already implemented on his grazing allotments. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal:

“Huntsberger, who said he’s been involved going back 12 years under former Gov. Kenny Guinn, said it is frustrating they’ve taken all these steps to conserve the sage grouse and its habitat to prevent listing. He said he’s concerned, as are many, that he’ll be kicked off his grazing allotments. Koch said the special rule was designed to help those who already were protecting sage grouse habitat so they can continue doing so.”

FWS state supervisor Ted Koch noted that actions underway that are consistent with the Bi-State Sage Grouse Local Area Working Group Action Plan will be recognized as efforts working to conserve the species and will not require additional regulatory review.  The comment period for the Draft Environmental Impact Statement (DEIS) and listing of the bird ends December 27th.

Congressmen Call for Delisting of Gray Wolf. This week, seventy five members of Congress sent a letter to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe. The letter called on the FWS to delist the gray wolf, an action they note as “long overdue.”

According to the letter:

“The statutory purpose of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is to recover species to the point where they are no longer considered ‘endangered’ or ‘threatened. The gray wolf is currently found in 46 countries around the world and has been placed in the classification of ‘least concern’ globally for risk of extinction…This is a clear indication that this species is not endangered or threatened.”

The letter also emphasizes the important and effective role of the states in managing recovered wolf populations. A complete copy of the letter is available HERE.

In the News

Wyoming ranchers, outfitter say seismic exploration hurt wells, deer hunting. Casper Star Tribune. Two south-central Wyoming ranchers and a hunting outfitter said seismic exploration on prime hunting land drove away deer, could harm water wells and hurt sage grouse protection. Ranchers Sharon Salisbury O’Toole and Patrick O’Toole complained to the Wyoming Oil and Gas Conservation Commission in person in Casper on Tuesday, saying the exploration company, GRMR Oil & Gas LLC of Broomfield, Colo., didn’t file a big enough bond for their work.

Bi-state sage grouse is threatened species. News Review. “Nevada has a pretty unique history in terms of coming up with relatively pragmatic, practical solutions around both development interests and conservation,” wildlife ecologist John Tull said. “We would want to see that the economic interests that are at play be able to continue to work in Nevada, so we don’t suffer any more in terms of our economic downslide. I think we’re recovering, but it’s been slow. And sage grouse, if they’re listed, and we don’t do anything, many things would probably come to a screeching halt.”

Neil Kornze picked to lead BLM. Denver Business Journal. Kornze faces confirmation by the U.S. Senate. U.S. Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, told the Salt Lake Tribune that while “the fact that Mr. Kornze is from the West is a good thing,” he plans to bring up such issues as sage grouse management and hydraulic fracturing as Kornze’s nomination is considered. In Colorado, some 1.7 million acres of BLM land are habitat for the greater sage grouse, whose dwindling numbers have led state and federal officials to weigh restrictions on energy development and grazing to protect the bird.

Energy Advisory Board hears Garfield County sage grouse presentation. Post Independent. rfield County officials made a presentation Thursday night to a packed Energy Advisory Board meeting about the county’s $200,000 greater sage grouse conservation plan.

BLM offers protections for sage grouse. Great Falls Tribune. The Lewistown office of the Bureau of Land Management released a plan Friday for public comment that proposes ways to protect sage grouse habitat on federal lands in central and eastern Montana. The bird, whose prairie habitat is declining across the West, could be federally protected under the Endangered Species Act if state and federal agencies don’t act first.

Don’t accept potential sage-grouse listing. Reno Gazette Journal (LTE by Rachael Krysiak, Reno). The recent news that the bi-state sage grouse is being considered for under the endangered species act only highlights that ambiguity. Nevada doesn’t have to accept this listing. In fact, there are active steps that we can take to protect the sage grouse. By collaborating on a solution, out-of-state and federal leaders have an opportunity to use conservation designations to preserve habitat while at the same providing the assurance that traditional ways of life, like hunting, grazing and mining, are maintained.

BLM issues power line decision: Landowners aim to fight planned path. Idaho State Journal. Legal counsel for the citizens’ task forces in both Power and Cassia county, Doug Balfour said the BLM decision came as no surprise. He said rules regarding sage grouse habitat are in flux and the federal agency based its placement decisions on old rules.   According to the BLM website on the Gateway West project, impacts to sage grouse habitat on public lands were analyzed and incorporated into the environmental statement.

Lawsuit Launched to Speed Recovery of Endangered California Frogs. Center for Biological Diversity (Press Release). The Center for Biological Diversity filed a formal notice of intent to sue the Interior Department today for failing to develop a recovery plan for Southern California’s mountain yellow-legged frogs. Although these frogs have been protected under the Endangered Species Act for over a decade, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has yet to develop the recovery plan that’s needed to save them from extinction.