Issues

WAFWA Range Wide Lesser Prairie Chicken Plan Open for Enrollment. The five state range wide plan is currently open for enrollment. This plan, developed by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA), is accepting participants for its conservation program related to the management of the Lesser Prairie Chicken.  More details on the program are presented in the attached “LPC RWP Industry Enrollment Seminar”. Specific information and enrollment materials can be obtained from Sean Kyle at sean.kyle@wafwa.org.

Chairman Hastings: ESA Needs Reform. This week, U.S. Representative Doc Hastings (R-Wash.), chairman of the U.S. House Natural Resources Committee, discussed the recent final report of the Endangered Species Act (ESA) Congressional Working Group to improve and reform the ESA. The report is based on input and comments received regarding the effectiveness and workability of the current ESA, as well as what improvements can be made moving forward.

From Rep. Hastings in the Capital Press:

“It’s my hope this report will further the discussion on the ESA and serve as a starting point as we move forward with commonsense legislative solutions. My intent has never been to introduce sweeping legislation to overhaul the ESA. Instead, I believe there are thoughtful, sensible, and targeted proposals that would address many of the issues highlighted in this report. I look forward to working with my colleagues on both sides of the aisle in the coming months to consider commonsense, targeted ways to improve and modernize this law for the 21st Century.”

As Rep. Hastings highlights, the need and desire to protect species is clear, yet changes could be made to increase the effectiveness of listings while reducing impacts on local communities and economies. For more on the Working Groups’ report visit ESAWatch.org or read the full report HERE.

Wyoming’s Budget Proposal Sets Aside $1.2 million to Study Greater Sage Grouse. The state of Wyoming is setting aside funds to better understand the Greater Sage Grouse (GSG) and ramp up state and voluntary conservation efforts at a state and local level, with an aim towards avoiding the need for a possible federal ESA listing. Mining interests in the state have expressed concerns with the proposed listing, urging the federal government to provide the state more control over their listing programs. From the National Mining Association:

“The scoping and the responsiveness by BLM to shore up a perceived deficiency by the

[Fish and Wildlife Service] under the ESA has proceeded at a pace which could, not surprisingly, prove fatal as a matter of law and policy and thus further undermine, not advance, the laudable goal of protecting the [sage grouse],”

Representative Steve Harshman (R-District 37) also noted his concerns over the proposed listing in the Associated Press:

“’As you know, listing sage grouse would be perhaps catastrophic to our minerals,’ Harshman said on the House floor. ‘We want to make sure we’re out doing everything we can to avoid listing of that species.’”

Senator Eli Bebout, chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee, echoed Rep. Harshman’s sentiment, stating the ramification of this listing would be significant for the entire West:

“It would just be devastating to multiple use, it would be recreation, it would certainly be mineral development, it would be agriculture and leasing, a lot of really tough issues. I really would like to head that off. I don’t want to see that happen…”

Oil and Gas Industry Prepares for Court Battle Over Lesser Prairie Chicken. Next month, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is expected to make a decision on whether or not to list the Lesser Prairie Chicken as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA) – a listing that could have large implications for state agencies and energy operations alike.

David Blackmon, an industry adviser with FTI Consulting, discussed the potential listing in E&E News (sub req’d):

“There will be a lot of litigation around it, and that’s never a productive way to spend money. The requirements that come down with a listing can result in time delays in getting your work done … it can result in feasibility restrictions around mating seasons and migration seasons.”

Many Texans worry an endangered species listing could hamper economic and energy development in the region while undermining state and local efforts to conserve the bird, including voluntary habitat conservation measures. Susan Combs of the Texas Comptroller of Public Accounts praised these voluntary measures as “key” to increasing species protections by oil and gas interests and private landowners. Comb’s office also recently launched an initiative to get universities involved in researching contested ESA species to determine if potential listings are warranted. “What we’re trying to do is help Fish and Wildlife have more information upfront so that their decisions then are based on really good science,” Combs stated.

In the News

Lesser-prairie chicken conservation signup deadline is Feb. 28. Hays Post. Kansas landowner/producers can receive sign-up incentives and payments for implementing grassland conservation practices that benefit lesser prairie-chickens. The application deadline to enroll land in the Lesser-prairie Chicken Conservation Program is Feb. 28, according to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies.

Bears, eagles and seals. Associated Press. The U.S. government has spent billions of dollars trying to save more than 1,500 animal and plant species listed as endangered or threatened. A group of House Republicans say that’s translated into just 2 percent of protected species taken off the list. They recently called for an overhaul to the 1973 Endangered Species Act, giving states more authority over imperiled species and limiting litigation from wildlife advocates.

Camp Perry Wind Turbine Project Halted Following Threat to Sue and Petition Campaign. Surfbirds (Blog). The petition campaign and letter of intent to sue the Ohio National Guard (ONG)), along with an ongoing petition campaign that has acquired over 5,000 signatures, charged that efforts in connection with the wind project at Camp Perry Air National Guard Station west of Port Clinton, Ohio, violate the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and other federal conservation and environmental laws.

Endangered Species Act: ‘Biggest threat to the Central Valley of California’. Western Farm Press. “I can tell you right now the biggest threat to farming and industry in California is the Endangered Species Act,” he (Fresno County Supervisor Phil Larson) said. “They can declare a critter endangered whether they see it or not. They say you have the habitat so it must be there, and you must mitigate it. Then they ask the farmers to pay a penalty because they can’t farm that land. How can that be right?

Sage grouse on endangered list will cost Utah billions, Herbert says. KSL. Utah Gov. Gary Herbert kicked off a two-day sage grouse summit Tuesday, bringing together hundreds of people throughout the state who have been working nearly two decades to restore the imperiled bird’s habitat. The sage grouse’s potential addition to the endangered species list is a problem of epic economic consequences to states in the West, with Herbert explaining that the impact in lost economic development in Utah tops $41 billion for the oil and gas industry alone.

The Endangered Species Act isn’t broken; Congress is. Helena Independent Record (Guest Column by Dave Chadwick, Montana Wildlife Federation). Saying that the ESA functions does not mean it is a pleasant process. No one likes seeing the federal government take over state authority over wildlife management. The law’s strict regulations can impose significant burdens on landowners and other land and water users. Developing and implementing plans to recover animals that have been pushed to the brink of extinction is often contentious, expensive and time-consuming. Our current situation with the sage grouse illustrates the challenges of protecting wildlife once they become endangered.

Companies partner with states to conserve lesser prairie-chicken habitat. High Plains Journal. Five oil and gas companies are voluntarily enrolling nearly 1.5 million acres of land under an innovative plan to conserve the lesser prairie-chicken. This represents the first enrollment in the Lesser Prairie-Chicken Range-wide Conservation Plan, developed by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies and state wildlife agencies in Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, and Texas.

BLM seeks public input on Parowan Gap Site Improvement Project. St. George News. The proposed project supports the BLM multiple-use mission by providing for the long-term preservation of cultural and paleontological resources at the site, as well as the restoration of habitat for threatened and endangered species like greater sage-grouse and Utah prairie dog. By replacing non-native and invasive species with native grasses and forbs, the BLM anticipates improving wildlife habitat and preventing continued erosion of some cultural resources currently threatened by noxious weeds.

Environmental group to sue government over Hudson River crude traffic. E&E News (sub req’d). The Center for Biological Diversity informed the agencies of its intent to sue under the Endangered Species Act and Clean Water Act to address increased crude oil barge activity on the Hudson from Albany. The group formally filed a 60-day “notice of intent” with EPA, the Coast Guard, and the departments of Interior and Commerce. NOTE: Center for Biological Diversity press release HERE.