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Public Lands Foundation
Position Statement:
2010-11
Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation
August 8, 2010
Executive Summary
The sage-grouse is the representative bird
of the western United States sagebrush landscape. Significant declines in
the populations of sage-grouse have occurred and they currently occupy
only an estimated 56 percent of their historically occupied habitat.1
More than half of the remaining sage grouse habitat is on public land
managed by the Bureau of Land Management (BLM). In response to a growing
pressure for listing under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), a major
collaborative effort began several years ago to protect and restore
sage-grouse habitats and to rebuild grouse populations. That effort
includes the western state wildlife agencies, the Western Governors'
Association, and the BLM, along with a full range of public land users and
wildlife conservation interests.
On March 5, 2010, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service announced that listing of the greater sage-grouse as an
endangered species was warranted, but precluded by the need to complete
other listing actions of higher priority. The Public Lands Foundation (PLF)
believes this decision, along with the focused and accelerated management
efforts by BLM working hand-in-hand with western state wildlife agencies,
non-profit organizations and private landowners, can facilitate needed
development in the public interest and assure the maintenance of healthy
and abundant sage-grouse populations as well as the ecological health of
the western lands generally.
Any subsequent listing decision should be
deferred until enough time has elapsed to adequately assess the efforts
currently being made to reverse historic trends and to rebuild and restore
productive sagebrush habitat and sage-grouse populations.
Background
The sage grouse is the representative bird
of the western United States sagebrush landscape.
According to BLM, “sage-grouse have
declined in number over the past one hundred years because of the
loss, degradation,
and fragmentation of sagebrush habitats essential for their
survival. Greater sage-grouse now occupy only about 56% of the habitat
that was available to them before the arrival of settlers of European
descent. Gunnison sage-grouse now occupy about 10% of the habitat that
existed before the arrival of settlers.”1
Over the past three decades, this decline
in sage-grouse over their historic range in the sagebrush landscape in the
West has been a matter of concern to hunters, wildlife agencies,
conservationists, and public land managers. The seriousness of the decline
led to petitions for listing the sage-grouse under the ESA and to an
extensive analysis by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies.
The loss of habitat is the result of a
combination of intentional and unintentional human activities, together
with natural occurrences and processes such as fire, drought, disease, and
weather patterns. Activities that have resulted in habitat loss include
urbanization; agricultural development; livestock grazing; mineral and oil
and gas development; the proliferation of roads and trails; off-road
vehicle recreation; vegetation manipulation, including burning, plowing,
and herbicides; and the explosive spread of non-native invasive plants.
While there is some disagreement about the
extent and rate of losses and declines and about the relative impact of
various human activities, there is general agreement that this is a
serious situation that will require significant effort to halt and
reverse. BLM has the management responsibility for the land that contains
over 50 percent of the remaining viable sage-grouse habitat. To protect
and restore sagebrush habitat for sage-grouse and for the numerous other
wildlife species, such as pygmy rabbits, which are dependent on sagebrush
habitat, BLM developed a “National Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation
Strategy” in November 2004.
In December 2006, the Western Association
of Fish and Wildlife Agencies published its “Greater Sage-grouse
Comprehensive Conservation Strategy,”2 which has as its
overall goal the maintenance and enhancement of populations and
distribution of sage-grouse by protecting and improving sagebrush habitats
and ecosystems that sustain these populations.
In 2008, a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU)
was signed among the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies,
U.S. Forest Service, BLM, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, U.S. Geological
Survey, Natural Resources Conservation Service and the USDA Farm Service
Agency. This MOU provided for the cooperation among the participating
agencies in the conservation and management of greater sage-grouse
sagebrush habitats and other sagebrush-dependent wildlife throughout the
Western United States and Canada.
Then, on March 5, 2010, the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service announced that listing of the greater sage-grouse as and
endangered species under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is warranted,
but listing is precluded by the need to complete other listing actions of
higher priority.
On the same day, BLM issued Instruction
Memorandum No. 2010-071 to supplement its National Sage-Grouse Habitat
Conservation Strategy of 2004. The program areas addressed in this
supplement include oil and gas, oil shale, geothermal, wind, solar, and
associated rights-of-way, wildlife, land use planning, and the National
Environmental Policy Act.
“Guidance for Addressing Sagebrush Habitat
Conservation in BLM Land Use Plans” has been developed, as well as
“Guidance for the Management of Sagebrush Plant Communities for
Sage-Grouse Conservation.” These guidance documents provide consistency
and specific direction for improving and stabilizing sagebrush lands when
implementing land use plans.
BLM is also working collaboratively with
western state wildlife agencies and is an active partner in the working
groups formed by the Western Governors' Association. These groups,
comprised of a cross section of interests, are developing strategies and
priorities at the local level directed at the conservation of sage-grouse.
Discussion
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s
determination that listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered
species under the Endangered Species Act is warranted, but precluded,
provides sorely needed additional time to assess actions being taken to
reverse long-term trends.
BLM and numerous others have developed
partnerships and made strong commitments over the last several years to
manage sage-grouse habitat and maintain and restore sagebrush landscapes.
There are many examples of management
actions being taken to conserve and protect sage-grouse and its habitat.
New Resource Management Plans and plan amendments in areas with
sage-grouse habitat include a strong focus on sage-grouse, sagebrush and
sagebrush-related species. Sage-grouse conservation efforts include
collaborative restoration projects, surveys, research, and monitoring on
Federal, State, Tribal and private lands. Threat assessments to
sage-grouse habitat and the mapping of sagebrush plant communities are
taking place. Advance planning, prompt action during fires, and effective
rehabilitation of burned areas are helping to limit the damage from
unwanted wildfires in sagebrush habitat. And, travel maps indicating
approved, restricted, and closed routes of travel in managed habitat for
many species of wildlife, including sage-grouse habitat, have been
developed by land management agencies.
The decision not to list the sage-grouse
at this time is well-suited to facilitate needed development in the public
interest while assuring the maintenance of healthy and abundant
sage-grouse populations and the ecological health of western landscapes.
The PLF endorses and supports BLM’s
focused and accelerated management efforts to rebuild and restore
sagebrush habitat and its commitment to work hand-in-hand with the western
state wildlife agencies, non-profit organizations, and private landowners
toward a common goal.
It is clear that BLM's program thrust, and
the major efforts being made by the western states, recognize the
potential threat of endangered species listing. And, it is clear there is
a desire to avoid the regulatory, bureaucratic, and legal quagmire that
could result from turning the sage-grouse into the "spotted owl of the
western rangelands."
If these efforts succeed, the beneficial
intent of the Endangered Species Act may be achieved without entangling
BLM, public land users, and conservationists in an unending and
unproductive morass of wrangling and recrimination.
PLF Position
1.
The decision that the listing of the greater sage-grouse as an
endangered species under the ESA is warranted, but precluded, along with
the accelerated management efforts by BLM and others, can facilitate
needed development and assure the maintenance of healthy and abundant
sage-grouse populations as well as the ecological health of western lands.
2.
Any subsequent listing decision should be deferred until enough
time has elapsed to adequately assess the efforts currently being made to
reverse historic trends and to rebuild and restore productive sagebrush
habitat and sage-grouse populations.
3.
BLM and other affected parties need to use the best science
available to improve land use planning and decision-making to conserve
sage-grouse habitat while providing for other appropriate uses.
4.
BLM needs to continue to cooperate with western state wildlife
agencies, non-profit organizations and private landowners, as it manages
sage-grouse habitat while providing wise multiple use and sustained yield
management of the National System of Public Lands.
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1
http://www.blm.gov/wo/st/en/prog/more/sage_grouse_home2.html. Page 1,
July 3, 2010
2
Stiver el al. 2006. Greater Sage-Grouse Comprehensive
Conservation Strategy. Western Association of Fish and Wildlife
Agencies.
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Updated from PLF No. 24-04, September 17, 2004. |