Sage grouse not endangered: US Interior

OREANDA-NEWS. September 23, 2015.  The US Interior Department has determined that the greater sage grouse should not be listed as endangered or threatened under the Endangered Species Act, sparing oil and gas producers operating in western states from some heightened restrictions on drilling.

But that announcement was accompanied by the release of a package of land use plans that aims to protect the ground-dwelling bird by limiting surface disturbances on public lands near its habitat.

Interior's US Fish and Wildlife Service has concluded that while the sage grouse's population has declined from historical levels, it does not face the risk of extinction now or in the foreseeable future. The sage grouse remains relatively abundant and well-distributed across a range spanning 173mn acres (700,106km?) in 11 states, although that is down from an 290mn acres in the 19th Century.

The sage grouse is considered an "umbrella" species that evidences the health of a habitat that includes mule deer, elk, pronghorn and golden eagles. Interior secretary Sally Jewell said the sage grouse serves as the "pulse" of an "imperiled ecosystem." About half of the sage grouse's habitat is on federal lands.

In conjunction with the endangered species determination, Interior's Bureau of Land Management and the Agriculture Department's US Forest Service finalized 98 land use plans designed to help conserve sage grouse habitat in 10 western states.

Those land use plans focus on limiting surface disturbances around key habitat management areas when leasing acreage, while prioritizing leasing activity away from general habitat areas. Of particular concern are leks, areas where male sage grouse conduct mating displays to attract females.

The Environmental Defense Fund called the decision "one of the biggest listing decisions of our time," noting that with the partnership between energy companies, ranchers, conservationists and states "we now have the foundation to guide future management of our nation's wildlife and working landscapes."

Producers group the Western Energy Alliance vice president of government and public affairs Kathleen Sgamma applauded the decision not to list the sage grouse.

"The land use plans, arguably, are worse than a listing," she said. But an endangered species determination on top of the land use plans "would have been far worse."

The alliance contends the plans exaggerate the effects of oil and gas development on the bird's populations and fail to recognize that production coexists with conservation efforts. Companies already have implemented 770 measures to help protect the sage grouse, Sgamma said.

Oil industry group the American Petroleum Institute president Jack Gerard was more positive about the announcement. While noting there may be some local challenges to the land use plans, "when you look at it holistically, it's moving in the right direction."

On Capitol Hill, reactions were polarized. US House of Representatives' Natural Resources Committee chairman Rob Bishop (R-Utah) called the decision not to list the sage grouse a "cynical ploy," arguing the "oppressive" land management plan is the same as a listing. "The new command and control federal plan will not help the bird, but it will control the west, which is the real goal" of the US administration, Bishop said.

The ranking Democrat on that committee, representative Raul Grijalva (Arizona), countered that "House Republicans attack the president when he decides to list an endangered species, and they attack him when he decides not to list an endangered species."