Issues
Gunnison Sage-Grouse Decision Delayed Again. This week, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) extended the deadline for a proposed listing decision on the Gunnison sage grouse in Colorado and Utah. U.S. Senators Mark Udall and Michael Bennet and U.S. Rep. Scott Tipton supported the decision to extend the deadline. In a joint statement, the congressman said:
“This additional time will give the state and local communities additional opportunities to come together with federal agencies and implement a science-based plan that preserves Colorado’s special way of life while also preserving the unique wildlife that call it home.”
A federal listing of the sage grouse could carry significant impacts for the regional economy – a fact neither state is ignoring. Colorado officials have threatened to sue the U.S. Interior Department if a listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is ultimately determined. Meanwhile, farmers and ranchers in the region are pursuing habitat protections with funding and assistance from the Agriculture and Interior departments to further protect the sage grouse before a listing decision is made. Energy developers and oil and gas companies are also implementing habitat credit exchanges where companies compensate landowners to offset potential harms to the grouse.
In the Nevada-California area, the FWS also postponed two public hearings on the bistate sage grouse. Earlier this month, the FWS extended the initial comment period on the proposal to list the grouse –specifically along the Nevada-California border – as threatened by sixty days. The listing would place the bistate sage grouse as threatened under the ESA while designating 1.8 million acres of critical habitat for the bird.
ESA Transparency Bills Head to House Floor. Coverage continued this week on the Natural Resources Committee’s recent markup of four bills that would reform the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Representative Doc Hastings (R-WA) said that the new bills would promote data and cost transparency. In Capital Press Hastings stated, “I think it would benefit our agriculture industry to know exactly what data is being used” and how decisions are made.
Hastings went on to say that the four bills are not a comprehensive reform of the act:
“I’m not under any illusions that the Senate will take up what the House has passed. This is an effort to start a larger conversation that we need to have on reforming the Endangered Species Act.”
These bills now awaiting floor consideration. A vote has not been scheduled.
County Commissioners Are Not Satisfied With Federal Exemptions. In New Mexico, Roosevelt and Curry County Commissioners are protesting the Lesser Prairie Chicken’s listing as threatened under the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). The county commissioners do not believe that federal exemptions under the Farm Service Agency Conservation Reserve Program, which went into effect last week, will assure their land and activities will be protected from federal interference.
Roosevelt County Commissioner Kendell Buzard also noted that not all farmers have Conservation Reserve Program land and that some are signed onto different conservation agreements. Given how dependent the state is on tax revenue from ranching and the energy industry, Buzard believes it’s important to continue to fight the listing; additionally, that local governments have a say in their conservation efforts. From the Clovis News Journal:
“Management of conservation is best left to the county and the state…and not the (federal) government. We went to great lengths to set aside habitat to benefit this species and I think it will work if it’s given time.”
Kansas Approves Lesser Prairie Chicken Bill Post Listing. Late last week, Kansas legislators ratified a bill proclaiming that the federal government does not have the authority to regulate the Lesser Prairie Chicken within the state. The bill is intended to generate lawsuits against federal attempts to regulate the bird by granting local prosecutors the right to file suit.
Secretary of State Kris Kobach said that this bill was not strong enough because it did not subject federal regulators to felony charges or fines, noting that this bill was “more symbolism than substance.” Kobach continued that charging federal employees with breaking the law or ascribing fines would allow the state the right to defend itself in court. “If there is not [a] penalty impose[d] on a federal officer, then the bill is essentially defanged,” he said.
In the News
USDA, DOI Announcement on Endangered Species Act. Wisconsin AG Connection. The USDA and the Department of the Interior announced this week that farmers, ranchers and landowners that voluntarily participate in Farm Service Agency Conservation Reserve Program, intended to protect and increase lesser prairie-chicken populations, will not be subject to additional regulations as a result of the species’ listing as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.
Climate change to make Great Plains hotter, drier. Associated Press. Changing temperatures will affect mating behavior and predator-prey relationships, while increasing carbon dioxide levels could make the grasses and leaves that animals eat less nutritious. Clashes may increase between those favoring development and land fragmentation against advocates of conserving prairie and other habitat for troubled species such as the sage grouse.
Electric Cooperatives Concerned About Sage Grose Proposals. Oregon Public Radio. The head of the Oregon Rural Electric Cooperative Association told lawmakers in Washington DC Wednesday that proposals to protect the greater sage grouse in Oregon could wind up raising the cost of electricity for rural ratepayers.
Draft Conservation Agreement for Graham’s Beardtongue and White River Beardtongue. KCSG News. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today the availability of a draft economic analysis and draft environmental assessment on a proposal to designate critical habitat under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) for Graham’s beardtongue and White River beardtongue, two endemic plants found on oil shale soils in Uintah and Duchesne Counties, Utah, and Rio Blanco County, Colorado.
Mountain caribou status revised to threatened. Idaho Business Review. The federal government has downgraded the protected status of the last remaining herd of mountain caribou in the Lower 48 states from endangered to threatened. Environmental groups hailed the decision as good for the animals.
Hold your horses: Nevada standoff reveals bigger fight over federally owned land. Washington Times. State officials argue that the federal agency is herding rural Westerners off the land by tightening restrictions, many of them driven by the Endangered Species Act, as well as lax management.
Conservation efforts could help restore lesser prairie-chicken population, Texas grasslands. Lubbock Avalanche-Journal (Op-Ed). The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recently listed the species as threatened under the Endangered Species Act, and related efforts to grow the population have received widespread support, including from Texas landowners.
Pearce to hold meeting on lesser prairie chicken. Channel 9 News. Congressman Steve Pearce is slated to host another meeting on the federal government’s decision to list the lesser prairie chicken as a threatened species.
