Posted: Thursday, April 30, 2009 12:00 am
Star-Tribune Editorial Board
We'll say this right up front: The sage grouse should not be placed under federal Endangered Species Act protection in Wyoming. Although the birds' numbers have plummeted in other parts of the West, and it's clear that they don't do well amid intensive energy development, the species is not on the brink of extinction.
At the same time, the federal Bureau of Land Management's unwillingness to fully embrace Wyoming's "core area" conservation plan for the sage grouse is problematic. On one hand, we have a federal agency, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, considering federal protection for the bird; on the other, a different federal agency could be doing more to prevent a listing.
As documented in today's special Star-Tribune report, the plight of the sage grouse is a major issue in Wyoming and across the West. The federal government estimates as many as 16 million sage grouse inhabited the region in the early 1800s, but today only an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 of the birds remain on about half of their historical range in 11 states.
Wyoming's sage grouse population is by far the largest of those 11 states; the state Game and Fish Department's estimate is around 200,000. But even though the state's grouse numbers are generally holding their own, the bird's struggles in other states, and in areas of oil and gas activity, have prompted a federal review. A decision on listing is expected in June.
There's much at stake in Wyoming. A grouse listing could bring about severe restrictions on energy activity and even livestock grazing in the birds' habitat, which happens to overlap some of the best places for development of natural gas and wind energy.
In light of that possibility, state officials have been working for several years to head off a grouse listing - or at least cushion Wyoming from the impacts of a listing. In collaboration with the Game and Fish Department, local sage grouse "working groups" have undertaken projects to improve and protect grouse habitat. Gov. Dave Freudenthal assembled a team to identify areas of key habitat for grouse around the state. And last year, he issued an executive order directing state agencies to maintain and enhance sage grouse habitat in what is referred to as his "core areas" strategy.
The plan requires that developers first demonstrate how sage grouse populations won't be affected, as opposed to the BLM's "adaptive management" model of approving activities first, then modifying stipulations after impacts to wildlife species are measured.
Problem is, the governor's order only applies to state land and agencies. In Wyoming, the BLM manages more than 18 million surface acres and another 11 million acres of subsurface mineral estate, giving the federal agency more influence over resource management in the state than any other entity.
Although the BLM has agreed to align its sage grouse stipulations with the state's core areas strategy, it has declined the state's request to attach those stipulations to federal oil and gas leases. As a result, by some measures the state's core grouse areas are 80 percent leased without the BLM mandating the core-areas stipulations.
The federal agency should heed the state's request, for both the sake of the sage grouse and the state's economy. The state's strategy may result in some restrictions, but not anything close to the full force of the Endangered Species Act.
Our view
The Bureau of Land Management should adopt Wyoming's "core areas" sage grouse strategy.
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Editorial Board
Nathan Bekke, publisher
Chad Baldwin, editor
Kerry Drake, opinion editor
Sally Ann Shurmur, community news editor
Ron Gullberg, managing editor