Issues

FWS Lists Northern Long-Eared Bat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced this week to list the northern long-eared bat as threatened under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The bat’s population across its 38-state range has been decimated in some areas due to the spread of white-nose syndrome. As the service itself states in the final rule, however, “factors other than white-nose syndrome are not believed to be contributing to the current decline of the species rangewide.”

The Independent Petroleum Association of America (IPAA) submitted multiple public comments while the listing was under consideration, emphasizing that the rule limits oil and gas development despite its limited impact on the bat’s habitat. In response to the final decision, IPAA senior vice president Dan Naatz stated:

“Rather than listing the bat and limiting development, the Fish and Wildlife Service should work toward finding a solution to this deadly disease, while ensuring energy development, environmental stewardship, species conservation, and economic growth can thrive together across the nation.”

American Forest and Paper Association President and CEO Donna Harman also questioned the NLEB listing, stating concern that the listing “will hinder forest management activities that provide habitat for the animal rather than address and find treatment for the acknowledged threat to the species: white-nose syndrome.” American Farm Bureau Federation director of congressional relations Ryan Yates also noted that the listing and interim 4(d) rule could “impose undue harm to farmers, ranchers, and landowners by restricting activities…that are unrelated to the primary threat to this species, white nose syndrome.”

Meanwhile, members of Congress also criticized the listing. “Naturally occurring diseases don’t respect government rules or regulations,” Wyoming Representative and Congressional Western Caucus Chairman Cynthia Lummis said in a statement. “White-nose syndrome is the sole reason the Fish and Wildlife Service decided to list the northern long eared bat but this unprecedented listing, which focuses entirely on regulating humans, does nothing to actually recover the bat.”

South Dakota Senators John Thune and Mike Rounds and Rep. Kristi Noem also said they are disappointed by the decision to list the NLEB as threatened under the ESA. House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop of Utah released a statement saying that the decision “flouts transparency and will fail to mitigate the real menace to this species, which is white-nose syndrome.”

CBD Challenge to NLEB Interim 4(d) Rule. The Center for Biological Diversity yesterday filed a challenge to the interim 4(d) rule for the northern long-eared bat.  Their challenge argues that Fish and Wildlife failed to comply with the mandates of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) on the 4(d) rule.  They also claim that the Service “back-tracked” dues to “backlash generated primarily by the timber and energy industry.” IPAA’s ESA Watch team will continue to monitor the challenge as it moves forward.

Western Caucus Hosts ‘Critical Habitat 101’ Staff Briefing. On Tuesday, the Congressional Western Caucus held a “Critical Habitat 101” briefing for staff. Attendees were briefed by a panel of experts on the history of critical habitat, how it is defined and designated, and how the recently proposed changes to critical habitat designation by the Fish and Wildlife Service would affect a myriad of important industries.

During the meeting, panelist Mary Martin from the U.S. Chamber of Commerce highlighted the use of sue-and-settle tactics in reaching ESA listing decisions, including the 2011 mega-settlement that requires the Service to consider an additional 750 species as new candidates for the endangered species list, and to make decisions on over 250 pending candidate species, all by 2018. Steven Quarles of Sedgwick LLP also discussed the concerns over the current modifications to critical habitat designations proposed by the Service, and highlighted the strong bipartisan record of Congress in modifying how critical habitat designations are made.

Panelist Michael Mittelholzer of the National Association of Home Builders walked through how critical habitat is designated by the Service, and discussed how some of the various rule changes proposed by the agency would impact the location, timeline, and costs of new building projects.  Ryan Yates of the American Farm Bureau Federation also discussed the proposed change to the definition of “adverse modification” by the Service, noting the impacts of this policy change on farmers and the regulated community. He noted this change would both disincentive certain voluntary actions and reduce the level of certainty for landowners.

To learn more about the panel discussion please reach out to Samantha McDonald at smcdonald@ipaa.org.

Western Governors Releases Sage-Grouse Report. The Western Governors’ Association (WGA) released its 2014 Sage-Grouse Inventory on Wednesday. The 32-page report details effective voluntary conservation work across the bird’s 11-state range just months before the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) is expected to decide whether to list the species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Montana Gov. Steve Bullock’s executive order for a statewide Greater sage-grouse habitat conservation program, the Colorado Cattleman’s Agricultural Land Trust’s permanent conservation easements, and actions undertaken by Nevada’s Sagebrush Ecosystem Council are all examples cited in the inventory.

Colorado Governor and Sage Grouse Task Force co-chair John Hickenlooper said the report  “highlights the fact that Western states are doing an enormous amount of work to preserve the greater sage-grouse, as well as the Gunnison sage-grouse here in Colorado.” He added, “Governors believe that a listing of the greater sage-grouse by the Fish and Wildlife Service would diminish the amount of conservation work undertaken and have a significant, negative economic impact across the West.”

Idaho Gov. Butch Otter also emphasized Western states’ Greater sage-grouse conservation success, noting that “the states have certainly done all that has been asked of them and all that can be done to prove to the federal government that a listing is unnecessary.”

Coalition Files Challenges to Federal Sage-Grouse Data. A group of Western counties and energy industry associations filed three Data Quality Act (DQA) challenges against three Department of Interior agencies last week. The challenges question how the Department is using information to make public lands and Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing decisions for the Greater sage-grouse.

According to the coalition, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM), U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) are not using the best available science to assess potential restrictive measures across the Greater sage-grouse’s 11-state habitat. “The steadfast reliance and perpetuation of flawed information reveals these agencies aren’t as much interested in sage-grouse conservation as they are in controlling our economy and western way of life,” said the coalition’s legal and scientific team lead Kent Holsinger.

Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance (WEA), one of the coalition members, added that federal agencies have been ignoring the conservation work that industry groups across the country have been doing to protect the bird. FWS is expected to make a final decision about whether to list the Greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act in the fall of 2015.

In the News

US gives threatened status to northern long-eared bat. Associated Press. An oil driller’s group said the decision stifles industry while providing questionable protections to the bats. “Rather than listing the bat and limiting development, the Fish and Wildlife Service should work toward finding a solution to this deadly disease, while ensuring energy development, environmental stewardship, species conservation, and economic growth can thrive together across the nation,” said Dan Naatz, senior vice president of the Independent Petroleum Association of America. NOTE: IPAA also featured in POLITICO Pro and E&E News (sub req’d); full comments available HERE.

Agreements could conserve 2.3M acres of sage grouse habitat in Ore. E&E News (sub req’d). The Interior Department on Friday announced agreements with Oregon landowners that could lead to the conservation of 2.3 million acres of sage grouse habitat and shield ranchers from regulations if the bird is eventually listed under the Endangered Species Act. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell joined Oregon Gov. Kate Brown (D) in Bend to announce five candidate conservation agreements with assurances (CCAA) that will encourage landowners to protect habitat in several counties in eastern and central Oregon. NOTE: Associated Press also reports.

NWF stops short of endorsing congressional delisting of Great Lakes wolves. E&E News (sub req’d). Affiliates of the National Wildlife Federation last weekend stopped short of endorsing a resolution that backed a congressional delisting of gray wolves in the western Great Lakes. Delegates at NWF’s annual meeting in Shepherdstown, W.Va., instead passed an amended resolution that simply supports wolf management being returned to Minnesota, Wisconsin and Michigan, “consistent with the professional, scientific judgment of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.”

Birds and bankers at risk in potential prairie chicken conservation delay. E&E News (sub req’d). When Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe visited Congress last week to justify his agency’s budget request, he repeatedly pointed to the importance of supporting innovative efforts to conserve imperiled animals. “In the Great Plains, we have a ground-breaking partnership with five range states that allowed us to list a species, the lesser prairie chicken, but to do that in a way that defers to the management of those five range states,” the FWS director told a House Appropriations subcommittee.

Judge sides with Forest Service in treatment lawsuit. Great Falls Tribune. U.S. District Judge Brian Morris has sided with Lewis and Clark National Forest in a lawsuit brought by the Alliance for the Wild Rockies to block a forest logging/prescribed fire project in the Little Belt Mountains to address aging stands of timber.

Great Lakes states receive more than $10 million from U.S. Fish and Wildlife. Great Lakes Echo. Great Lakes states received more than $10 million in federal funding to protect species and habitats, according to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The eight states received around 22 percent of the $45 million given through the State Wildlife Grant Program. That is down from last year, when the region netted around the same percentage but $47 million was awarded.