Issues

House leader speaks out on ESA. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Doc Hastings (WA-04) sent a letter yesterday to U.S. Fish and Wildlife Director Dan Ashe and Department of the Interior Secretary Ken Salazar. In his letter, the Chairman raises a number of concerns regarding the scientific integrity of the Service’s listing decisions and the imposition of arbitrary deadlines surrounding the decision to potentially list the Gunnison sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).  The Chairman also makes a number of requests including:

  • Detailed documents and information concerning the science supporting sage-grouse listing,
  • the planning strategies for sage-grouse conservation,
  • the Obama Administration’s lack of deference to state conservation,
  • and additional information in regard to the Administration’s 2011 closed door, multi-species ESA settlement with the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians.

You can read the full letter HERE and adjoining press release HERE.

FWS extends public comment period for proposed Gunnison sage grouse listing. On Thursday, the Service notified Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) and other lawmakers that it will grant a three-week extension of the comment period on its Gunnison sage-grouse proposal. The Service also committed to holding public hearings during a subsequent comment period for the economic analysis of the proposal. You can read the full letter announcement HERE.

In reaction to the news, Senator Bennet stated: “While the extension is not as long as we had hoped, I am pleased the Fish and Wildlife Service is working with us to ensure Coloradans have a chance to make their voices heard. This is an important issue in western Colorado, and we need to consider all of the implications before a final rule is determined.” Read the Senator’s full statement HERE.

The news comes in response to a letter sent by Sen. Bennet (D-CO), Sen. Mark Udall (D-CO), Sen. Orrin Hatch (UT-R), Rep. Scott Tipton (R-CO),  Rep. Jim Matheson (D-UT), and Rep. Jason Chaffetz (R-UT) to Noreen Walsh, FWS regional director in Lakewood, CO. The letter requested the service extend the public comment period by 60 days, noting the “proposal has engendered great interest and concern among several communities we represent.” Read the full letter HERE.

In the News

Area congressmen praise prairie chicken comment period extension. Lubbock Avalanche Journal. Responding to pleas from area lawmakers, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will hold another public comment period this spring on the potential listing of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened under the Endangered Species Act.

Texas shields free-market habitat program from federal scrutiny. E&E News (sub req’d). “If they don’t live up to the agreements and we continue to lose the habitat for the dunes sagebrush lizard, then we can propose to list it,” Ashe said at the time. While the agreements were voluntary, the threat of future Endangered Species Act restrictions would be incentive enough for landowners to honor their commitments, Ashe said.

Farmers, developers say their future uncertain due to threatened songbird. 680 News. The bird has the voice of R2-D2 from “Star Wars,” but for land developers and farmers across Ontario, its call heralds the sound of an uncertain future. The bobolink, a medium-sized black songbird with a white back and yellow collar, is creating friction between the Ontario government and the owners of the grasslands and hayfields it calls home.

Too much baloney in prairie-chicken debate. Amarillo Globe News, LTE. I think a program to help landowners would be an acreage planted to grain and let it go down in the field for winter. Twenty or so acres scattered across the area would carry the chickens through storms. There is too much baloney from people that may have never seen a (lesser) prairie-chicken.

County wants more time on proposed sage-grouse listing. Montrose Daily Press. Montrose County plans to join Colorado’s congressional delegation in asking the feds for an expanded comment period concerning the Gunnison sage-grouse.

Endangered Species: Lesser Prairie Chicken Decision Delayed. Field and Stream. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has delayed a decision on the endangered species status of the lesser prairie chicken, and reopened the public comment period on the proposed listing for the threatened prairie grouse, which at one time was one of the most populous gamebirds on the southern plains, but now hangs on in just a few areas.

Newly Discovered, Nearly Extinct. New York Times, Op-Ed. The United States Fish and Wildlife Service has a chance to stop this by listing this bird as endangered under the Endangered Species Act, and I strongly encourage the agency to do so immediately.

County to unveil sage grouse pilot program. Elko Daily Free Press. In an effort to demonstrate the effects of grazing and predator control on sage grouse, Elko County is devising its own pilot study.

Enviro group poll shows broad support for strengthening ESA. E&E News (sub req’d). The Center for Biological Diversity, which frequently sues the government to press for more stringent protections of endangered species, released the results today of the national poll of 657 registered voters. The group found that 42 percent of respondents said Congress should “strengthen” the Endangered Species Act, 25 percent said lawmakers should not make any changes and 24 percent said it should be “weakened.” NOTE: See the CBD’s press release HERE.