Issues
House Committee on Natural Resources Holds ESA Hearing. This week, the House Committee on Natural Resources held an oversight hearing on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) titled “ESA Decisions by Closed-Door Settlement: Short-Changing Science, Transparency, Private Property, and State & Local Economies.” The hearing included varying opinions regarding the ESA and its implementation over its forty year history. Witnesses included Jeff Sikes of the Association of Arkansas Counties, Greg Foley of the Kansas Department of Agriculture, Joe Roman of the University of Vermont, Brock Evans of Endangered Species Coalition, Carl Albrecht of Garkane Energy in Utah, and Independent Biologist Megan Maxwell.
Chairman Hastings opened the meeting with some of his concerns regarding ESA litigation and the proposed listing of various species, including the Greater sage-grouse and the Rabbitsfoot mussel. Greg Foley, Executive Director, Division of Conservation, Kansas Department of Agriculture, highlighted his concerns surrounding the proposed listing of the lesser prairie chicken, noting that “agriculture is our largest economic driver in Kansas” and that a federal listing could have a negative impact on state, local, and volunteer conservation efforts. Carl Albrecht, CEO & General Manager of Garkane Energy, also spoke to some of the frustrations and costs he has faced in Utah based on the ESA and critical habitat designations. He noted the importance of reform to ensure the ESA is not imposing unnecessary costs on consumers.
Professor Roman discussed the importance of the ESA and the positive ecological impacts of the Act, noting that a species listing should be based on whether it is endangered or not, regardless of politics and economics. He highlighted the importance of the ESA in protecting habitats and noted the importance of incentivizing voluntary conservation efforts.
Megan Maxwell, Ecologist from Broomfield, Colorado, spoke about her in depth review of the Greater Sage‐Grouse Conservation Measures Report produced by the Sage‐grouse National Technical Team. She highlighted three primary concerns with the report, including 1) the peer-review of the report appears to represent a political agenda rather than best science, 2) the one-size fits all approach to the listing will not properly apply to the wide habitat range of the sage grouse, and 3) that the report does not adequately focus on the threat of the fire-cycle and invasive species on the bird. According to Ms. Maxwell:
“The technical and policy flaws contained in the NTT Report are considerable and must be addressed before it is fully implemented as the ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach will produce misguided land management policies that will not benefit sage-grouse range-wide. Such policies will not provide the best approach to sage-grouse habitat conservation and enhancement because sage-grouse conservation measures must be custom-tailored to reflect site-specific conditions. Failure to address this problem in the NTT Report could result in ecologically devastating consequences, while broad application could conflict with FLPMA and other laws.”
In response to questioning from Rep. Cynthia Lummis (R-Wyo.), Ms. Maxwell stated that implementing the NTT could cause major problems for the sage-grouse. For more on the hearing, visit the Committee on Natural Resources website HERE and their press release on the hearing HERE.
In the News
Agency says Colorado plans for grouse fall short. Associated Press. The agency that will decide whether the greater sage-grouse receives protection under the Endangered Species Act says a Bureau of Land Management proposal for protecting them in northwest Colorado falls short. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service offered its opinion based on letters from the public commenting on the BLM’s draft document for management of greater sage-grouse territory in the region.
Work Group Chooses Governor’s Plan to Prevent Listing. Times-News. Facing several thousand pages of federal recommendations and policy changes, the small team of volunteers cracked open their notebooks. The fate of Idaho’s sage grouse was outlined in the stacks of binders before them. Their task? To select the best recommendation tucked in the mass of paperwork that might prevent the bird from being listed as an endangered species.
Agencies host Elko sage-grouse open house. Elko Daily Free Press. The status of sage grouse is still in the air, but residents had a chance to learn about — and weigh in on — ideas to save the bird from an endangered species listing. About 60 people packed into a conference room at the Shilo Inn Wednesday night for an informal gathering hosted by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service regarding a drafted regional sage-grouse conservation plan.
Don’t sacrifice our eagles to boost wind power. The Olympian. It appears the Obama administration is bending over backwards to make sure bird mortalities don’t get in the way of an aggressive expansion of wind energy. But at what cost to the nation’s iconic symbol, a bird that’s had to fight back from the brink of extinction and was finally removed from the federal Endangered Species Act list in 2007?
Sage grouse policy must be Montana made. Billings Gazette (LTE by Elsie Arntzen, Billings). With the federal government declaring sage grouse “warranted” for listing as an endangered species, Montana must act before the feds yet again interfere with the management of our state. Bureaucrats in D.C. and Helena all too often ignore the voices of citizens who live and work on the land each day, but a true Montana sage grouse solution simply cannot overlook the property rights of local landowners when coming up with an acceptable plan.
Western governors show wildlife maps. Associated Press. The Energy Department provided a $3 million grant and individual states contributed the time of mapping specialists the past three years to help gather, organize and input the information, WGA spokesman Joe Rassenfoss said. It’s expected to be especially helpful for projects that may encounter species in multiple states, like the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, the sage grouse in the Great Basin or the prairie chicken in the Southwest.
