Issues
Gunnison sage-grouse listing ruffles feathers in Colorado. At the end of December 2014, Gunnison County, the western Colorado county in the center of the Gunnison sage-grouse debate, filed a formal notice of intent to sue the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for listing the bird as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The Gunnison sage-grouse was listed as threatened in November, which could produce restrictions on oil and gas drilling, agriculture and other land uses in both Colorado and Utah. Meanwhile two environmental groups, the Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project, have also filed to sue the Service, arguing that the grouse should have received endangered status.
The state of Colorado has also notified the Fish and Wildlife Service that it intends to sue over the bird, arguing that the Service’s listing “failed to use the best available science in its listing decision.” According to Colorado Assistant Attorney General Lisa Reynolds:
“The best available scientific data indicates that the species is not warranted for protection under the ESA because the Gunnison basin population, which comprises the vast majority of the species’ individuals and occupied range, is not in danger of extinction now or in the foreseeable future. In making the listing decision, FWS improperly analyzed the required factors to make its determination that the Gunnison sage-grouse is threatened; failed to rely on the best available science; and failed to give adequate weight to the extensive conservation efforts undertaken by state and local governments and private landowners.”
Colorado and Utah officials point to massive undertakings at the state and local level to preserve sage grouse habitat. According to Colorado’s notice to sue, the state alone has spent approximately $40 million on implementing measures to protect the bird, such as monitoring activities, conducting land acquisition research, and voluntary conservation programs.
IPAA’s Upcoming Strategic Planning Conference. The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) will be hosting a Strategic Planning Conference on Land Access and Environmental Issues on Monday, February 2nd in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The afternoon session will be dedicated to a tactical discussion of the best approaches to address issues involving the Endangered Species Act as well an update on several federal land issues. Learn more about the event HERE.
Secretary Jewell launches new effort to protect sage grouse. On Tuesday, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell issued a Secretarial Order calling for a comprehensive strategy to combat the frequent and intense wildfires impacting sagebrush lands, particularly in the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. Rangeland wildfires in the West have grown in recent decades with intensified wildfire seasons in the region, which are made worse by fire-prone invasive species, particularly cheatgrass. The recurring fires wipe out grazing areas for cattle and native plants such as sagebrush, in turn eliminating the native species that rely on them.
Fire and invasive species also continue to be an issue for conservation of the Greater sage- grouse, a species currently under consideration for a federal listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Assistant secretary for Land and Minerals Management Janice Schneider, who is a member of the task force, told the Associated Press that since 2012, more than 2.5 million acres of sage grouse habitat has burned on BLM land. It can take decades for sagebrush to return, though nonnative plants often move in first, only to burn a few years later.
“Targeted action is urgently needed to conserve habitat for the Greater sage-grouse and other wildlife in the Great Basin, as well as to maintain ranching and recreation economies that depend on sagebrush landscapes,” Jewell said in a statement. A task force will begin implementing the plan in the 2015 fire season.
IPAA comments on water and voluntary conservation proposals. In its December 2014 issue, the Independent Oil and Gas Association (IOGA) of West Virginia highlighted recent comments from the Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) regarding proposed changes to the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed policy on Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions.
In regard to the WOTUS rule, IPAA has argued the proposed changes currently under consideration by the administration would adversely affect all land users, including independent producers, by adding duplicative regulatory obligations with little environmental benefit. As IPAA Executive Vice President Lee Fuller highlighted in the monthly newsletter, “Increased federal jurisdiction over nearly all waters in the United States will create substantial permitting and compliance burdens for few environmental benefits. America’s independent producers and job creators will be hit especially hard in the pocketbook because of permitting delays and retroactive construction requirements – making it more difficult to develop America’s natural resources, potentially affecting prices at the pump.” Read IPAA’s full comments on the WOTUS rule HERE.
IPAA also filed joint comments with nearly fifty other associations who represent America’s thousands of independent oil and gas companies, including the service and supply industries, in reaction to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s proposed policy on Voluntary Prelisting Conservation Actions. According to Dan Naatz, IPAA Vice President of Federal Resources and Political Affairs, “IPAA and its members support voluntary prelisting conservation actions that improve species recovery and eliminate the need for federal listings. Unfortunately, the service’s proposed policy fails to guarantee participating landowners that their conservation actions, and the expenses incurred to implement these plans, will not simply impose greater restrictions on them in years to come.” IPAA’s full comments on the proposed policy can be found HERE.
In the News
Lawmakers eye revival of stalled enviro, energy bills. E&E News (sub req’d). In the Senate, Nevada Republican Dean Heller this week reintroduced the “Commonsense in Species Protection Act,” or S. 122. The bill would require the Interior secretary to publish and make available for public comment a draft economic analysis of a critical habitat designation when it is proposed. Such designations place restrictions on federal actions, permitting and spending in areas deemed essential for the conservation of species protected by the Endangered Species Act. The “Commonsense in Species Protection Act” was last introduced by Rep. Rick Crawford (R-Ark.) as H.R. 4319 in March. The bill garnered 30 Republican co-sponsors, but failed to advance out of the House Natural Resources Committee before the end of the 113th Congress.
Ariz. threatens to sue FWS over Mexican wolf recovery plan. E&E News (sub req’d). The Arizona Game and Fish Department has announced plans to sue the Obama administration over the Fish and Wildlife Service’s decades-old Mexican wolf recovery plan, arguing — as environmentalists have done recently — that the 1982 plan is so outdated that it no longer provides an adequate framework to guide the recovery effort. The GFD said that it believes that the current plan hasn’t set clear criteria for downlisting or delisting the Mexican wolf from protections offered under the Endangered Species Act and doesn’t focus enough on recovery efforts south of the U.S. border. If Interior Secretary Sally Jewell, who oversees FWS, doesn’t respond to GFD’s notice of intent to sue within 60 days, the state will pursue civil action.
Clock ticking on greater sage grouse decision. Glenwood Springs Post Independent, Op-Ed. The Gunnison sage grouse has been in the news with a recent listing as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act. A lot of Colorado stakeholders are frustrated with the federal government’s decision, because they felt that real local progress was being made on conserving that bird’s habitat, which exists only in a few counties in southwestern Colorado and eastern Utah. But the clock is also ticking on the greater sage grouse and on local efforts to prevent listing of this related — but distinct — species in the 11 Western states (including northwestern Colorado) where it is found.
Delta smelt legal battle heads to Supreme Court. LA Times. The delta smelt may be a small fish with a short life, but it has spawned a decades-long legal battle over water in California. At issue has been a series of orders under the Endangered Species Act that at times reduce water deliveries from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta to San Joaquin Valley growers and urban Southern California.
Kansas monarch expert questions butterfly’s potential endangered species listing. UPI. While beefier federal protections would likely be welcomed by most conservationists looking to save the monarch butterfly, one entomologist and monarch expert says the involvement of the federal government would be a step in the wrong direction.
