Issues
Republican Senators Write Reid Over ESA. Late last week a group of fifteen Senate Republicans from ten states wrote a letter to Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) after the passage of S. 2198, the “Emergency Drought Relief Act.” The Republican Senators emphasized that the recent drought in California has been exacerbated due to the Endangered Species Act (ESA). Additionally, the Senators highlighted the misuse of the ESA and sue and settle tactics on behalf of extreme environmental groups. From the letter:
“Lawsuits by radical environmental groups have allowed the Obama Administration to prioritize fish over people, cutting off water to farmers and families. Because that is the case, unemployment in that region is set to skyrocket.”
The Senators went on to say that while wholesale reform of the ESA is not likely in the near future, it is of paramount importance to implement targeted legislation to address the issues individual states face due to overregulation on behalf of the federal government. The Senators letter also noted how federal ESA listing decisions can carry a negative impact across the nation such as the proposed listing of the Greater Sage Grouse – a decision that poses a threat to the economic strength of eleven western states.
Lesser Prairie Chicken Listing Halts Development in Kansas. According to recent media reports the federal listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken has already stopped oil-drilling operations in Kansas and cost the U.S. economy millions of dollars. Although the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) included a provision in the listing that allows for landowners to manage conservation efforts in cooperation with federal officials, oil producers are saying that there was not enough time to process the new regulations.
Mike Vess, owner of Wichita-based Vess Oil Corporation said, “Not complying brings very stiff penalties, so we’ve basically just pulled out of western Kansas. The reaction was ‘OK, we’re just not going to drill.’” Tom Sanders of Tomcat Drilling added that he expects 3,000 industry employees to be impacted by the listing. Representative Tim Huelskamp (R-KS) also called the move a “job killer” in his district.
Idaho: Ravens and the Sage Grouse Population. The Idaho Fish and Game Agency’s (IFGA) $100,000 project to boost Sage Grouse populations by poisoning Ravens in the area has been hindered due to permitting delays from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. As a result, the initiative will begin next spring as Ravens don’t tend to group in large numbers during other seasons.
The project has come under fire from various conservation groups who argue the plan does not properly target the primary threats to the grouse population. A number of conservation groups sent a letter to U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack opposing the proposal, stating “
Oregon Ranchers Sign on to Land Agreements. The Capital Press reports that Harney County cattle ranchers and federal officials have signed land management agreements last week that will protect the Greater Sage Grouse’s habitat on federally owned grazing lands as well as up to one million acres of private land. The ranchers, in return for making Grouse-specific land management changes, will be exempt from further federal regulations for the next thirty years. The land pact was praised by Burns-area rancher Tom Sharp who stated, “We took the time to do something right that has value beyond Harney County.”
In the News
Oregon Sage Grouse: When Ranchers Are the Conservationists. Outdoor Life. As a candidate species for listing under the Endangered Species Act, the greater sage-grouse has been ruffling feathers for years. Landowners are growing nervous as the Sept. 2015 listing deadline creeps closer, and the conflict that often arises between private and federal interests over controversial species remains a possibility.
Farm Bureau Supports State-Focused Sage Grouse Legislation. American Farm Bureau Federation (Blog). Last week, members of Congress introduced legislation that would deal with one piece of the puzzle regarding the broad scope of the Endangered Species Act. Seanica Otterby has the story.
Oklahoma Pipeline Company Seeks To Protect Prairie Chicken. KGOU News. The Oklahoma Association of Conservation Districts is partnering with a private oil and gas pipeline company to help protect the habitat of the Lesser Prairie Chicken.
Birds coexist with development in other states. The Emporia Gazette. The caracara lives mostly in Florida but also is found in the warm climes of the southwestern United States and Central America. The birds continue to be protected under the Endangered Species Act, but their habitats continue to be developed, with some extra measures taken for mitigation.
Splitting the Baby & Sage Grouse. AgInfo News. Representative Cory Gardner of Colorado has introduced the Sage Grouse Protection and Conservation Act – which would prohibit the federal government from listing sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act as long as states prepare and carry out plans to protect the species within their borders.
BLM nears final approval of 30th commercial-scale project in past 5 years. E&E News. The Bureau of Land Management has completed its environmental analysis of a proposed solar power project in Southern California that would rank among the nation’s largest but has raised concerns among environmentalists about potential impacts to sensitive bird species.
Fed’s strategy: Destroying river & other fish to save some fish. Manteca Bulletin (Op-Ed). Credit it to the inflexible federal bureaucrats emboldened by zealot defenders of the Endangered Species Act as it is written and terms of the actual law and implementation.
Wyoming Governor Pushes For Grizzly Bear Delisting. Backpacker Magazine. Grizzly bears, once ubiquitous in mountainous regions of the western United States, were hunted to the brink of extinction in the lower 48 by the early 1920s before being afforded federal protection under the Endangered Species Act in 1975.
