Weekly Newsletter | January 18, 2019

Issues

BLM extends protest deadline for Obama-era sage-grouse plan revisions. Following confusion over technical mishaps related to the partial government shutdown on the Interior Department’s website, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has heeded calls to extend the deadline for protest of proposed revisions to Obama-era Greater sage-grouse conservation plans.

The deadline was changed late last week on BLM’s sage grouse national project website to Jan. 15, for plans covering parts of Colorado, Idaho, Nevada/Northern California, Oregon and Utah. The deadline in Wyoming was extended to Jan. 28. BLM had already pushed back the protest deadline there to Jan. 23, due to the release of “incorrect versions of appendices” accompanying the release of the final version of revised plans last month.

A BLM spokeswoman confirmed in an email to multiple outlets that BLM is extending the deadlines to protest the proposed revisions covering management of millions of acres of sage grouse habitat. The email does not say why the agency made no formal announcement, although most BLM staff are on furlough during the ongoing partial government shutdown.

With sage-grouse conservation plans in flux, states take action. States have increasingly begun to institute their own sage-grouse plans.

In Utah, Gov. Gary Herbet recently announced a five-year plan outlining how agencies and private entities will help maintain and increase Greater sage-grouse populations and seasonal habitats. Herbert authorized the first version of the plan in 2013, which has helped state, federal and private partners protect the bird in Utah since then. In 2017 and 2018, Herbert’s plan went under review and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources (UDWR) and the governor’s Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office worked with stakeholders to improve the plan. The 2019 plan incorporates new science and knowledge that builds on the progress made under the past plan, according to a recent press release from Herbert’s office.

Meanwhile, in Colorado,  Montrose County commissioners have formally repealed a 2013 resolution that had imposed restrictions on development within Gunnison sage-grouse habitat, citing redundancy.

Colorado regulators have also asked the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) to remove some parcels in the northwestern part of the state from an upcoming oil and gas lease sale and to consider enacting a one-well pad/square mile limit within big game habitat. At issue is winter habitat deemed critical to elk, mule deer, pronghorn antelope and bighorn sheep, as well as the bald eagle, the sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken.

The Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) of the state’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have sent letters to the BLM over the planned lease sale in March. DNR Executive Director Robert Randall said the DNR was appreciative of BLM deferring parcels in sage grouse habitat from the December sale and requested it do the same in March. In a separate letter sent in October to the BLM’s field office in Grand Junction, CPW’s northwest regional manager, J.T. Romatzke, also requested the sage grouse habitat be pulled from the March sale.

Industry trade groups, while sympathetic to the concerns of Colorado’s wildlife managers, are urging BLM to move forward with the lease sales as proposed. According to BLM’s website, plans are to auction 26 parcels totaling more than 14,051 acres in the March sale including acreage in Fremont, Garfield, Jackson, Mesa and Moffat counties.

In the News

Democratic supermajority is poised to resist Trump. E&E News, Sub req’d. California’s Legislature is poised to be more assertive on environmental issues with Democrats holding supermajorities in both chambers. November’s elections gave Democrats in the California Assembly 60 out of 80 seats, six more than the threshold for a two-thirds vote. The party in the state Senate controls 29 of 40 seats. That opens the door for passing measures requiring a two-thirds vote, such as anything that raises taxes or fees, amendments to the state Constitution, or putting a measure on the state ballot. It also makes it easier to pass controversial legislation with a simple majority. In recent years, many contentious measures died in the Assembly when moderate Democrats bucked their party. “Sixty members does matter,” said Jena Price, a lobbyist who represents the League of Conservation Voters and the Water Foundation. “At a minimum, even if we can’t agree on everything, we have six more members who can agree that climate change actually exists and we have to do something about it.” That could include addressing threats posed by higher temperatures, wildfires and land subsidence. Environmental activists and some lawmakers are trying to get more electric vehicles on roads and address issues with water and air pollution. The party’s supermajority could strengthen California’s promise to lead the “resistance” against President Trump. Gov. Gavin Newsom (D), at his inauguration Monday, cast California as a bulwark against the president’s environmental rollbacks

Bernhardt must renew ‘acting’ heads by month’s end. E&E News, Sub req’d. Acting Interior Secretary David Bernhardt must soon decide whether to maintain eight temporary agency directors, as the Trump administration presses into its third year without appointees for a slew of top posts at the department. According to Secretarial Order 3345, eight temporary appointments — including the heads of the Fish and Wildlife Service, Bureau of Land Management and National Park Service — will expire on Jan. 31. The latest version of that order, signed by former Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke in mid-November 2018, also names individuals to take on the duties of the solicitor; assistant secretary for policy, management and budget; assistant secretary for fish and wildlife and parks; special trustee for American Indians; and director of the Office of Surface Mining Reclamation and Enforcement. An Interior Department spokeswoman declined to comment on whether Bernhardt will issue a new order, citing the funding lapse that has shuttered the agency since late December. Environmental advocacy groups have disparaged the White House over its failure to put forth nominees and asserted that the Trump administration is in violation of the Federal Vacancies Reform Act by allowing nonconfirmed officials to lead agencies for extended periods. “There’s been a complete abdication by the Trump administration for their duty to seek advice and consent from the Senate,” said Ryan Shannon, a staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. Under the FVRA, temporary or acting officials are limited to a term of 210 days, with an additional 90 days allowed during presidential transitions.

Members float bipartisan endangered fish bill. E&E News, Sub req’d. Just one agency would be in charge of regulations related to endangered fish under a bipartisan bill introduced this week. Rep. Ken Calvert’s (R-Calif.) H.R. 548 would consolidate fish protections and waterway regulations under the Endangered Species Act. Right now, the regulatory authority is split between the Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA Fisheries. By placing just FWS in charge, the bill would prevent different and contradictory regulations, according to its sponsors. “It simply makes no sense to have multiple federal agencies responsible for enforcing the ESA,” Calvert said in a statement. “This unnecessary bureaucratic duplication delays the deployment and operation of critical infrastructure that drives our economy and enhances the natural environment.” Rep. Jim Costa (D-Calif.), a co-sponsor, said that the bill has support from multiple California water agencies. Fish seem to be a theme this week on the Hill. During yesterday’s confirmation hearing on Andrew Wheeler to be EPA administrator, Sen. Dan Sullivan (R-Alaska) indicated he would soon be introducing a “Save Our Seas Act 2.0.” The first Save Our Seas Act was signed into law by President Trump last year (E&E News PM, Oct. 11, 2018). It reauthorized and amended the Marine Debris Act to extend NOAA’s Marine Debris Program through fiscal 2022. Sullivan said that ocean pollution, particularly plastic pollution, is a “huge issue.” He asked Wheeler what role EPA can play in fighting the problem.

DNA of wolf declared extinct in wild lives on in Texas pack. E&E News, Sub req’d. Researchers say a pack of wild canines found frolicking near the beaches of the Texas Gulf Coast carries a substantial amount of red wolf genes, a surprising discovery because the animal was declared extinct in the wild nearly 40 years ago. The finding has led wildlife biologists and others to develop a new understanding that the red wolf DNA is remarkably resilient after decades of human hunting and loss of habitat. “Overall, it’s incredibly rare to rediscover animals in a region where they were thought to be extinct, and it’s even more exciting to show that a piece of an endangered genome has been preserved in the wild,” said Elizabeth Heppenheimer, a Princeton University biologist involved in the research on the pack found on Galveston Island in Texas. The work of the Princeton team was published in the scientific journal Genes. The genetic analysis found that the Galveston canines appear to be a hybrid of red wolf and coyote, but Heppenheimer cautions that without additional testing, it’s difficult to label the animal. The discovery coincides with similar DNA findings in wild canines in southwestern Louisiana and bolsters the hopes of conservationists dismayed by the dwindling number of red wolves in North Carolina that constituted the only known pack in the wild. The red wolf, which tops out at about 80 pounds, was once common across a vast region extending from Texas to the south, into the Southeast and up into the Northeast. It was federally classified as endangered in 1967 and declared extinct in the wild in 1980.

Pipeline injunction heads to appeals court. E&E News, Sub req’d. An ongoing legal battle over the Keystone XL pipeline is making its way to appellate court. Days before Christmas, TransCanada Corp. said it would appeal a recent order from Judge Brian Morris for the U.S. District Court for the District of Montana blocking construction while the State Department revisits its environmental review of the oil pipeline. This week, attorneys for two environmental groups signaled that they might also challenge elements of the order, which denied some claims against the project. The cases will head to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. The court, whose jurisdiction extends from California to Alaska, has been fertile ground for Trump administration challenges. After the injunction from Morris, an Obama appointee, President Trump denounced the court order as a political move. He promised to install new judges in the 9th Circuit.  TransCanada fought for permission to continue some pre-construction activities on the pipeline. Morris allowed the company to continue administrative tasks on the project but barred any further field work. The pipeline developer appealed the decision on Dec. 21.