News for Immediate Release
Jan. 31, 2008
Contact: Dwayne Meadows, 307-760-6802, dmeadows@trcp.org
Mule Deer, Sage Grouse Concerns Prompt TRCP Protest of Colorado Energy Leases
Oil and gas development in southwestern Colorado could limit future actions to protect state's mule deer herd, already weakened by extreme winter weather
WASHINGTON — The Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership (TRCP) today announced that it has formally protested the inclusion of big-game winter range and sage grouse habitat in the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Feb. 14 energy sale. The conservation group's protest covers 31 parcels that encompass more than 24,000 acres, primarily in the Dolores River area of southwestern Colorado. This region is heavily used by mule deer and other big-game species.
As proven in recent, peer-reviewed scientific studies, the mule deer is one of many species seriously affected by energy development. The TRCP lease protest attempts to conserve the winter range on which this species depends. Heavy snowfall, thick ice crusts and frigid temperatures in western Colorado, combined with habitat loss due to development, are currently preventing the state's mule deer from accessing normal food sources. The Colorado Division of Wildlife has commenced emergency feeding plans to protect the herd and fend off a potentially catastrophic die-off.
"The TRCP has been protesting energy leases in big-game winter range for more than a year, and the extreme weather conditions in Colorado right now demonstrate precisely why this habitat is so critical," said Dwayne Meadows, a TRCP field representative based in Laramie, Wyo. "Access means survival to big-game species. When winter range is fragmented by oil and gas development, these animals have no place to go."
"Energy leases are managed by BLM as a contractual obligation for development, and development in the Dolores River region can increase impacts on the winter ranges that are so important to big game," said Steve Belinda, energy initiative manager for the TRCP. "Entering into these leasing contracts now, when Colorado's mule deer are being fed and all access is closed to activity, seems counterproductive.
"Mule deer epitomize the best of the American West," continued Belinda. "If we want to guarantee a future for this vital part of our country's conservation legacy, we must develop strategies to guide energy development on places like the Dolores River region. Only then will the fish and wildlife that depend on these public lands be sustained and flourish."
Concerns about sage grouse also provoked the TRCP's protest. A recent decision by the U.S. District Court in Idaho reversed the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's "not warranted" listing decision, issued in 2005, and called on the agency to review the potential listing of the species as endangered. If the sage grouse is listed under the Endangered Species Act, sage grouse hunters would be the first of many stakeholders to experience negative impacts. Recent scientific studies have linked energy development and declining sage grouse populations.
"We know that sage grouse avoid winter range and breeding grounds where energy development occurs," said Meadows. "An endangered listing for the species would have far-reaching impacts — and hunters would bear the brunt of this outcome. These concerns drove the TRCP's recent protest of energy leases in Wyoming, and they're prompting our actions in Colorado. The BLM should logically refrain from pursuing development until the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service renders a final decision on the bird's future."
The TRCP believes that to better balance the concerns of fish and wildlife in the face of accelerating energy development, federal land management agencies must follow the conservation tenets outlined in the FACTS for Fish and Wildlife.
Inspired by the legacy of Theodore Roosevelt, the TRCP is a coalition of organizations and grassroots partners working together to preserve the traditions of hunting and fishing.
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