If you have an opinion, I'd be interested in hearing why you feel the way you do.
Oak
A small bird that makes a big noise
Groups: Grouse saga endangers economy
By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
April 10, 2004
A small bird with a long tail threatens to wreak havoc with the plans of Colorado developers. An impending decision to list the "greater sage grouse" as an endangered species could affect millions of dollars of development plans, from ranching and farming to housing, mining and oil and gas production.
The grouse population has been steadily declining over the past 20 years. Its habitat is spread over 110 millions acres in 11 states, including northwestern Colorado. A decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services expected early next week could start a process to list the grouse under the Endangered Species Act. A final decision is likely by the end of this year.
"Unleashing the Endangered Species Act on sage grouse not only will devastate these birds, but it will devastate the West's economy," said Jim Sims, executive director of the Partnership for the West, which is lobbying against the proposed listing. The partnership represents oil and gas, farming, ranching, mining and construction industries.
"This will make the spotted owl look like an insect in terms of its impact," Sims said, referring to the 1990 listing of the spotted owl as a threatened species and the subsequent job losses in the timber industry. "The economic losses in the West of a sage grouse listing could easily add to the upper hundreds of millions of dollars and quite possibly into the billions of dollars."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Colorado said it is waiting to hear from Washington. The office will rule on a 90-day review, based on a petition filed by 21 environmental groups on Dec. 22, 2003, to list the greater sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species.
"The sage brush habitats all over the West are experiencing some problems; we are finding areas that have disappeared, that don't have grass anymore," said Sharon Rose, spokeswoman of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Colorado. "That impacts various species, and that is a concern."
"But we are at the very initial stage of looking into the information provided to us. I would not want to speculate on the decision," Rose said. The petition was initiated by environmental groups as a measure of last resort to make sure the bird, once abundant in the western United States, survives, said Jacob Smith with the Center for Native Ecosystems.
Population of the greater sage grouse - the bird was first discovered by explorers Lewis and Clark in 1806 - has declined as much as 45 percent to 80 percent in the past 20 years, the petition states. It can be hunted in certain weeks in parts of Colorado, where the population has increased in recent years.
"State and federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management have talked about recovering the sage grouse for a long time," Smith said. "In most cases, it has been a proclamation to do something, but we still don't have concrete conservation measures."
The BLM disagrees. Ron Wenker, state director of BLM Colorado, said the federal bureau has been working with state and local agencies for the past 20 years to make sure the greater sage grouse is not listed as threatened. For instance, Wenker said, the BLM is working closely with government groups that have formed the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to assess the status of the bird. The WAFWA report is scheduled to be released by May 15.
Also, the BLM is partnering with local organizations, such as the Northwestern Colorado Sage Grouse Working Group based in Moffat County, to repopulate the bird. Jean Stetson, a member of the working group, said they have been working for the past seven years to put in place a voluntary plan that would include landowners, businesses and government officials. All these local and state efforts will be stymied by an endangered species listing, Sims noted.
"The environmental groups say nothing is being done to save the sage grouse; that is why they want to impose the heavy-handed arm of the ESA," Sims said. "But the opposite is true. In the West, communities are working with local, state and federal agencies to figure out a conservation plan."
"Why would you want to short-circuit the existing efforts, and handcuff future efforts, by using the ESA listing that has had zero percent success in the past?" he said.
For instance, after the spotted owl was listed in 1990 as a threatened species, the Clinton administration declared millions of acres of federal forest lands, especially in Washington state and Oregon, off limits to development. A decade later, the owl numbers still saw a decline, even as the states saw a 25 percent slide in forest-related jobs between 1986 and 2000, although not all the job losses can be traced to the owl.
Colorado developers are worried. They fear that an ESA listing of the greater sage grouse will pose hurdles to business plans, especially natural gas drilling in the Rockies.
"It may hamper our ability to have access to the resources during certain times or at all times, depending on the sage grouse's habitats," said Krista Mutch, director of government relations at Western Gas Resources, an oil and gas company in Denver. "It has the potential to reduce natural gas supply and make production more expensive, since our business plans such as scheduling rigs and crews could be interrupted."
Mutch pointed out that under BLM guidelines, oil and gas drilling is not allowed within a quarter-mile of a "lek" - a sage grouse mating ground. During breeding time, drilling is prohibited with a two-mile radius. Stetson, a beef producer in Moffat County and a member of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, said an ESA listing would affect the way cattlemen manage their lands.
"People have grazing permits that could be impacted," Stetson said. "Hopefully, we can hold off any major conflict, but some people with agendas are not looking at the science."
Howard Gelt, a real estate attorney with Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, said it would delay or even stop housing development.
"It would certainly require another level of compliance, another level of review, there's no doubt about it" Gelt said. "I can't say whether the bird should be listed or not. But any listing will have the same impact on residential, commercial and industrial development as it will on the oil and gas and mining industries."
But such concerns are unwarranted, said Jacob Smith of the Center for Native Ecosystems, which petitioned in support of the ESA listing.
"We are not talking about shutting down all use of land," Smith said. "We are talking about protecting the sage grouse's breeding habitats. The western sage brush has been completely devastated with out-of-control oil and gas drilling, urban sprawl and poorly managed growth."
Jacob said the ESA has been successful in preventing extinction of many species, although he conceded it has not been successful at repopulating species.
"The sage grouse is a valuable game bird as well as an important part of America's outdoor heritage, and we must seek to reverse its decline using all the tools available," said Mike Smith, chairman of Sierra Club's Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee. "The Endangered Species Act is one of those tools."
Oak
A small bird that makes a big noise
Groups: Grouse saga endangers economy
By Gargi Chakrabarty, Rocky Mountain News
April 10, 2004
A small bird with a long tail threatens to wreak havoc with the plans of Colorado developers. An impending decision to list the "greater sage grouse" as an endangered species could affect millions of dollars of development plans, from ranching and farming to housing, mining and oil and gas production.
The grouse population has been steadily declining over the past 20 years. Its habitat is spread over 110 millions acres in 11 states, including northwestern Colorado. A decision by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Services expected early next week could start a process to list the grouse under the Endangered Species Act. A final decision is likely by the end of this year.
"Unleashing the Endangered Species Act on sage grouse not only will devastate these birds, but it will devastate the West's economy," said Jim Sims, executive director of the Partnership for the West, which is lobbying against the proposed listing. The partnership represents oil and gas, farming, ranching, mining and construction industries.
"This will make the spotted owl look like an insect in terms of its impact," Sims said, referring to the 1990 listing of the spotted owl as a threatened species and the subsequent job losses in the timber industry. "The economic losses in the West of a sage grouse listing could easily add to the upper hundreds of millions of dollars and quite possibly into the billions of dollars."
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service office in Colorado said it is waiting to hear from Washington. The office will rule on a 90-day review, based on a petition filed by 21 environmental groups on Dec. 22, 2003, to list the greater sage grouse as an endangered or threatened species.
"The sage brush habitats all over the West are experiencing some problems; we are finding areas that have disappeared, that don't have grass anymore," said Sharon Rose, spokeswoman of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Colorado. "That impacts various species, and that is a concern."
"But we are at the very initial stage of looking into the information provided to us. I would not want to speculate on the decision," Rose said. The petition was initiated by environmental groups as a measure of last resort to make sure the bird, once abundant in the western United States, survives, said Jacob Smith with the Center for Native Ecosystems.
Population of the greater sage grouse - the bird was first discovered by explorers Lewis and Clark in 1806 - has declined as much as 45 percent to 80 percent in the past 20 years, the petition states. It can be hunted in certain weeks in parts of Colorado, where the population has increased in recent years.
"State and federal agencies such as the Bureau of Land Management have talked about recovering the sage grouse for a long time," Smith said. "In most cases, it has been a proclamation to do something, but we still don't have concrete conservation measures."
The BLM disagrees. Ron Wenker, state director of BLM Colorado, said the federal bureau has been working with state and local agencies for the past 20 years to make sure the greater sage grouse is not listed as threatened. For instance, Wenker said, the BLM is working closely with government groups that have formed the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies to assess the status of the bird. The WAFWA report is scheduled to be released by May 15.
Also, the BLM is partnering with local organizations, such as the Northwestern Colorado Sage Grouse Working Group based in Moffat County, to repopulate the bird. Jean Stetson, a member of the working group, said they have been working for the past seven years to put in place a voluntary plan that would include landowners, businesses and government officials. All these local and state efforts will be stymied by an endangered species listing, Sims noted.
"The environmental groups say nothing is being done to save the sage grouse; that is why they want to impose the heavy-handed arm of the ESA," Sims said. "But the opposite is true. In the West, communities are working with local, state and federal agencies to figure out a conservation plan."
"Why would you want to short-circuit the existing efforts, and handcuff future efforts, by using the ESA listing that has had zero percent success in the past?" he said.
For instance, after the spotted owl was listed in 1990 as a threatened species, the Clinton administration declared millions of acres of federal forest lands, especially in Washington state and Oregon, off limits to development. A decade later, the owl numbers still saw a decline, even as the states saw a 25 percent slide in forest-related jobs between 1986 and 2000, although not all the job losses can be traced to the owl.
Colorado developers are worried. They fear that an ESA listing of the greater sage grouse will pose hurdles to business plans, especially natural gas drilling in the Rockies.
"It may hamper our ability to have access to the resources during certain times or at all times, depending on the sage grouse's habitats," said Krista Mutch, director of government relations at Western Gas Resources, an oil and gas company in Denver. "It has the potential to reduce natural gas supply and make production more expensive, since our business plans such as scheduling rigs and crews could be interrupted."
Mutch pointed out that under BLM guidelines, oil and gas drilling is not allowed within a quarter-mile of a "lek" - a sage grouse mating ground. During breeding time, drilling is prohibited with a two-mile radius. Stetson, a beef producer in Moffat County and a member of the Colorado Cattlemen's Association, said an ESA listing would affect the way cattlemen manage their lands.
"People have grazing permits that could be impacted," Stetson said. "Hopefully, we can hold off any major conflict, but some people with agendas are not looking at the science."
Howard Gelt, a real estate attorney with Shughart, Thomson & Kilroy, said it would delay or even stop housing development.
"It would certainly require another level of compliance, another level of review, there's no doubt about it" Gelt said. "I can't say whether the bird should be listed or not. But any listing will have the same impact on residential, commercial and industrial development as it will on the oil and gas and mining industries."
But such concerns are unwarranted, said Jacob Smith of the Center for Native Ecosystems, which petitioned in support of the ESA listing.
"We are not talking about shutting down all use of land," Smith said. "We are talking about protecting the sage grouse's breeding habitats. The western sage brush has been completely devastated with out-of-control oil and gas drilling, urban sprawl and poorly managed growth."
Jacob said the ESA has been successful in preventing extinction of many species, although he conceded it has not been successful at repopulating species.
"The sage grouse is a valuable game bird as well as an important part of America's outdoor heritage, and we must seek to reverse its decline using all the tools available," said Mike Smith, chairman of Sierra Club's Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee. "The Endangered Species Act is one of those tools."
