By DARYL GADBOW of the Missoulian
A National Wildlife Federation biologist from Missoula says Montana's draft management plan for sage grouse is "visionary" in its call for protection of sagebrush habitat.
"It calls in the plan for no net loss of sagebrush habitat in Montana over the next 50 years," said Ben Deeble, a Missoula upland bird biologist who helped craft the state's "Draft Management Plan and Conservation Strategies for Sage Grouse in Montana."
Deeble is part of a group that started work in 2000 to assess the condition of sage grouse and its habitat in Montana in anticipation of a petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act.
Sage grouse were once found in 13 western states and three Canadian provinces. Today they are found in 11 states and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The bird's remaining strongholds are in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.
Concern about the declining status of sage grouse and sagebrush habitat led several groups and individuals to submit six different petitions to the Fish and Wildlife Service asking for Endangered Species Act listing.
The act requires the federal agency to assess the real or potential risks to a petitioned species based on five factors - habitat, over-use, disease or predation, existing regulations and other factors.
Montana decided to do its own sage grouse assessment and conservation plan "to get ahead of the curve," said Deeble.
The group working on the plan attended 20 different planning meetings, he said.
"It convened as many interest groups as possible," he said. "Including all the agencies involved, conservation organizations, hunters, tribal representatives, ranchers, farmers and property owners."
"I think in some regards it's visionary," Deeble added about the group's draft plan. "It's the first time the state and conservation groups have come together to acknowledge that sage grouse conservation is important. And they realized we need to do something, even though Montana is one of the last strongholds of sage grouse in the West, and that it is the long-term lifeboat of sage grouse in the West."
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking public comment on the plan through Jan. 20. The plan is available online at FWP's Web site at fwp.state.mt.us. Look for the Sage Grouse Plan link under Hot Topics.
FWP also held six public meetings to discuss the plan in December in Dillon, Glasgow, Miles City, Lewistown, Billings and Great Falls.
The draft plan contains the following conservation strategies for sage grouse in Montana:
Minimize wildfire or prescribed fire impacts on sage grouse habitat.
Maintain sage grouse hunting without impacting sage grouse populations.
Maintain and enhance sagebrush rangelands for sage grouse habitat and for livestock grazing and other uses.
Engage in mining and oil and gas development and minimize impacts to sage grouse and sagebrush habitats.
Minimize impacts of noxious weeds and other invasive species on sage grouse.
Teach and inform Montanans and others about sage grouse populations and habitat needs.
Coordinate sage grouse conservation on public and private grounds.
Continue to provide electric service to customers (requiring power lines and generation facilities), while minimizing impacts to sage grouse and sagebrush habitats.
Where appropriate, manage predation rates to enhance sage grouse survival and production using either indirect control (reduction of perching sites, elimination of denning sites, or improved habitat conditions), or direct control where legal and cost effective.
Continue to provide sage grouse viewing and other recreational opportunities, while minimizing impacts.
Manage existing and future roads to minimize road-related disturbance, loss of habitat, degradation of habitat, and mortality of sage grouse.
Manage vegetation to maintain the health of the sagebrush community, enhance sage grouse habitats and meet the needs of other species and human uses.
Maintain sage grouse habitat where the effects of other wild herbivores (especially deer and elk) are reducing the quality of the site for use by sage grouse.
The plan also calls for organization of three local or regional sage grouse working groups that will meet with biologists and conservation groups to identify issues, Deeble said.
Initially, the groups will be located in Dillon, Glasgow and Broadus.
"In the Glasgow area," said Deeble, "sage grouse are doing very well. We hope the local group there can figure out what's working well there and make recommendations to the other groups. In Broadus, the looming concern is coal bed methane development, which could be catastrophic to sage grouse."
The state's sage grouse management plan "does nothing to stop development of coal bed methane," he added. "But it talks about steps to mitigate impacts, such as burying utility lines, and re-injecting well water into the ground."
Montana's sage grouse plan "contains some small carrots," said Deeble, "but not many sticks" to enforce it.
FWP plans to spend up to $1.5 million in hunting and fishing license fees for conservation easements to preserve sage grouse habitat and habitat enhancement projects, according to Deeble.
The major weakness of the plan, he said, is a lack of commitment from the federal Bureau of Land Management, the agency that manages the bulk of public sagebrush lands.
"If anything," he said, "that's the Achilles heel of this plan. BLM did not whole-heartedly commit to this plan."
One of the goals of the plan, said Deeble, was to avoid federal dictates to manage sage grouse in Montana under the Endangered Species Act.
"We wanted very much to see if we could solve this problem on the local level in Montana," he said, "and not have the federal government intervene. We need more cooperation from agencies like BLM for us to succeed."
Even if Montana's plan produces positive results in protecting and enhancing sage grouse numbers, however, the bird could still be listed as endangered or threatened.
"The Endangered Species Act is generally color blind to state boundaries," Deeble said. "So it could still be listed even if it's stable in Montana or Wyoming."
He said he expects FWP to make a final decision on the plan in the next two months.
http://www.missoulian.com/display/inn_features/outdoors/zod02.txtthere is the link for ithaca
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-24-2003 07:58: Message edited by: michaelr ]</font>
A National Wildlife Federation biologist from Missoula says Montana's draft management plan for sage grouse is "visionary" in its call for protection of sagebrush habitat.
"It calls in the plan for no net loss of sagebrush habitat in Montana over the next 50 years," said Ben Deeble, a Missoula upland bird biologist who helped craft the state's "Draft Management Plan and Conservation Strategies for Sage Grouse in Montana."
Deeble is part of a group that started work in 2000 to assess the condition of sage grouse and its habitat in Montana in anticipation of a petition asking the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the bird under the Endangered Species Act.
Sage grouse were once found in 13 western states and three Canadian provinces. Today they are found in 11 states and southern Alberta and Saskatchewan. The bird's remaining strongholds are in Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Nevada and Oregon.
Concern about the declining status of sage grouse and sagebrush habitat led several groups and individuals to submit six different petitions to the Fish and Wildlife Service asking for Endangered Species Act listing.
The act requires the federal agency to assess the real or potential risks to a petitioned species based on five factors - habitat, over-use, disease or predation, existing regulations and other factors.
Montana decided to do its own sage grouse assessment and conservation plan "to get ahead of the curve," said Deeble.
The group working on the plan attended 20 different planning meetings, he said.
"It convened as many interest groups as possible," he said. "Including all the agencies involved, conservation organizations, hunters, tribal representatives, ranchers, farmers and property owners."
"I think in some regards it's visionary," Deeble added about the group's draft plan. "It's the first time the state and conservation groups have come together to acknowledge that sage grouse conservation is important. And they realized we need to do something, even though Montana is one of the last strongholds of sage grouse in the West, and that it is the long-term lifeboat of sage grouse in the West."
Montana Fish, Wildlife and Parks is seeking public comment on the plan through Jan. 20. The plan is available online at FWP's Web site at fwp.state.mt.us. Look for the Sage Grouse Plan link under Hot Topics.
FWP also held six public meetings to discuss the plan in December in Dillon, Glasgow, Miles City, Lewistown, Billings and Great Falls.
The draft plan contains the following conservation strategies for sage grouse in Montana:
Minimize wildfire or prescribed fire impacts on sage grouse habitat.
Maintain sage grouse hunting without impacting sage grouse populations.
Maintain and enhance sagebrush rangelands for sage grouse habitat and for livestock grazing and other uses.
Engage in mining and oil and gas development and minimize impacts to sage grouse and sagebrush habitats.
Minimize impacts of noxious weeds and other invasive species on sage grouse.
Teach and inform Montanans and others about sage grouse populations and habitat needs.
Coordinate sage grouse conservation on public and private grounds.
Continue to provide electric service to customers (requiring power lines and generation facilities), while minimizing impacts to sage grouse and sagebrush habitats.
Where appropriate, manage predation rates to enhance sage grouse survival and production using either indirect control (reduction of perching sites, elimination of denning sites, or improved habitat conditions), or direct control where legal and cost effective.
Continue to provide sage grouse viewing and other recreational opportunities, while minimizing impacts.
Manage existing and future roads to minimize road-related disturbance, loss of habitat, degradation of habitat, and mortality of sage grouse.
Manage vegetation to maintain the health of the sagebrush community, enhance sage grouse habitats and meet the needs of other species and human uses.
Maintain sage grouse habitat where the effects of other wild herbivores (especially deer and elk) are reducing the quality of the site for use by sage grouse.
The plan also calls for organization of three local or regional sage grouse working groups that will meet with biologists and conservation groups to identify issues, Deeble said.
Initially, the groups will be located in Dillon, Glasgow and Broadus.
"In the Glasgow area," said Deeble, "sage grouse are doing very well. We hope the local group there can figure out what's working well there and make recommendations to the other groups. In Broadus, the looming concern is coal bed methane development, which could be catastrophic to sage grouse."
The state's sage grouse management plan "does nothing to stop development of coal bed methane," he added. "But it talks about steps to mitigate impacts, such as burying utility lines, and re-injecting well water into the ground."
Montana's sage grouse plan "contains some small carrots," said Deeble, "but not many sticks" to enforce it.
FWP plans to spend up to $1.5 million in hunting and fishing license fees for conservation easements to preserve sage grouse habitat and habitat enhancement projects, according to Deeble.
The major weakness of the plan, he said, is a lack of commitment from the federal Bureau of Land Management, the agency that manages the bulk of public sagebrush lands.
"If anything," he said, "that's the Achilles heel of this plan. BLM did not whole-heartedly commit to this plan."
One of the goals of the plan, said Deeble, was to avoid federal dictates to manage sage grouse in Montana under the Endangered Species Act.
"We wanted very much to see if we could solve this problem on the local level in Montana," he said, "and not have the federal government intervene. We need more cooperation from agencies like BLM for us to succeed."
Even if Montana's plan produces positive results in protecting and enhancing sage grouse numbers, however, the bird could still be listed as endangered or threatened.
"The Endangered Species Act is generally color blind to state boundaries," Deeble said. "So it could still be listed even if it's stable in Montana or Wyoming."
He said he expects FWP to make a final decision on the plan in the next two months.
http://www.missoulian.com/display/inn_features/outdoors/zod02.txtthere is the link for ithaca
<FONT COLOR="#800080" SIZE="1">[ 01-24-2003 07:58: Message edited by: michaelr ]</font>
