Protection Delayed, Again, for the Sage Grouse; Energy Groups Face Less Scrutiny

[amborin]

Mono Basin Sage Grouse Is Endangered, But Protection Once Again Delayed

LAS VEGAS - March 5 - In response to a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity and other environmental and faith-based groups, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced today that a population of the greater sage grouse found in the Mono Basin of California and Nevada warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that such protection is precluded due to lack of resources.

“Continued delay of protection for the Mono Basin population of sage grouse is a recipe for extinction,” said Rob Mrowka, an ecologist at the Center. “To date, the Obama administration has not improved on the Bush administration’s progress in providing protection to the nation’s most endangered species.”

During his eight-year tenure, Bush protected a mere 62 species, for a rate of fewer than eight species per year. This compares to 522 protected under Clinton, or 65 species per year, and 231 species protected under George H.W. Bush, or 58 species per year. With only two species listed so far, the Obama administration appears to have flatlined on listing. Under the Endangered Species Act, the Fish and Wildlife Service can only delay protection of species if it is making expeditious progress listing other species considered a higher priority for listing.

“Delaying protection for Mono Basin sage grouse is clearly illegal and irresponsible,” said Mrowka.

The Mono Basin area population of sage grouse is the southwestern-most population of the greater sage grouse and is geographically isolated from other sage grouse populations. It is found in Storey, Carson, Douglas, Mineral, and Esmeralda counties in Nevada and in Mono, Alpine, and Inyo counties in California. “Because the Mono Basin population of sage grouse exists at the periphery of the sage grouse range and is genetically unique, it contains characteristics that may well be critically important to the survival of the species as a whole, particularly in light of climate change,” said Mrowka.

Primary threats to Mono Basin sage grouse include degradation of habitat by livestock grazing and invasive noxious weeds, fragmentation of habitat caused by development, roads and transmission lines, ORV use, drought, and loss of sagebrush due to the encroachment of junipers. Sage grouse are also still hunted in Nevada and California. Populations have declined up to 70 percent.

snip

http://www.commondreams.org/newswire/2010/03/05-14


****************************

Energy Groups Relieved Sage Grouse Won't be Listed

March 8, 2010

By MEAD GRUVER,
Associated Press Writer

CHEYENNE, Wyo.—An Interior Department announcement Friday that it won't list sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species opens the way for continued development of the West's wind energy and oil and gas industries.

Those industries will still face scrutiny in sage grouse habitat but much less so than if the bird were listed.

The government concluded that listing the chicken-sized brown bird as threatened or endangered is warranted but precluded by higher priorities - other species considered in greater danger.

But Interior will classify the bird among species that are candidates for federal protection, which are assigned a priority number between one and 12. The sage grouse has been given an eight, putting it two-thirds of the way down the scale as a priority for federal protection.

Sage grouse have experienced a 90 percent decline in their numbers and a 50 percent decline in their sagebrush habitat from a century ago, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said at a news conference.

But the bird populations have been relatively stable over the last decade thanks to efforts by states such as Wyoming, Idaho and Montana to protect the species and its habitat, he said.

snip

http://www.usnews.com/science/articles/2010/03/08/energy-groups-relieved-sage-grouse-wont-be-listed.html

"Frankly, it is the states in the Western part of the United States that have developed the right kind of strategies to confront this challenge," Salazar said.

Sage grouse inhabit large portions of Wyoming, Nevada, Montana, Oregon and Idaho, and smaller areas of Colorado, Utah, California, Washington, South Dakota, North Dakota and western Canada.

Especially in Wyoming, large areas of sage grouse habitat also are prime spots for natural gas development that has boomed in recent years. In Nevada, the birds are challenged by an invasive species, cheatgrass, which is prone to frequent wildfires that burn up native sagebrush.

Wyoming, home to an estimated one-half of North America's sage grouse, has been mapping the bird's habitat, studying it and taking other steps to better understand how to protect the species and avoid an endangered listing - efforts that Gov. Dave Freudenthal said have paid off.

"The candidate listing gives us a fighting chance, while an endangered or threatened listing would have taken the wind out of our sails," he said in a release.

snip