TRCP and NAGP Commend New BLM Sage Grouse Protections in WY

News for Immediate Release
Aug. 14, 2008
Contact: Steve Belinda, 307-231-3128, sbelinda@trcp.org

TRCP and NAGP Commend New BLM Sage Grouse
Protections in Wyoming

Efforts attempt to conserve the popular upland game bird in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin

WASHINGTON – In response to actions that could significantly benefit both wildlife and sportsmen, the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership and North American Grouse Partnership today praised the Bureau of Land Management for its recently announced efforts to conserve sage grouse habitat in northeastern Wyoming’s Powder River Basin. The temporary measures affect approximately 1 million acres of sage grouse habitat where recent studies show dramatic decreases in populations of the bird and include limits on the density of oil and gas wells in these areas.

The federal move is important for the future of sage grouse in the Powder River Basin and could prevent further declines in population that would necessitate increased regulation. Sage grouse are being considered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for listing as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act.

The BLM action follows a formal request to the Secretary of the Interior by the TRCP and NAGP to undertake landscape conservation measures for sage grouse habitats on federal public lands administered by the BLM. The sportsmen’s groups want the BLM to better manage sage grouse and their habitats during public-lands energy development to avert the need for Endangered Species Act protections for the popular game bird. A threatened or endangered listing would affect sage grouse hunters first and foremost due to the possible elimination or restriction of hunting opportunities – actions already proposed due to decreases in bird numbers. It also would affect farming and ranching operations across the West where sage grouse occupy public and private lands.

“Sportsmen support the BLM decision to embrace actions that should help maintain sage grouse and avoid an endangered listing,” said TRCP Energy Initiative Manager Steve Belinda, a former federal biologist. “Logically, though, we also must ask, ‘What’s next? And what about the rest of the Wyoming?’ Obviously, the BLM must undertake additional and wider-ranging conservation measures if we hope to sustain secure populations of sage grouse into the long-term future.”

“We genuinely appreciate the BLM action on behalf of sage grouse populations in northeastern Wyoming,” said Ralph Rogers, executive director of the NAGP. “A review of past trends and declines in sage grouse population numbers points to one, unqualified certainty: What we have been doing to conserve this species is not working.”

The scope of the BLM guidelines generally corresponds to areas of core sage grouse habitat designated by Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal in an executive order earlier this month. Sage grouse are listed by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department as a “species of special concern,” and currently the BLM is required to pursue actions that help conserve species identified by the state. A proposal to change this requirement is being drafted by the BLM in its revision of its Sensitive Species Manual.

“The BLM must use this new information and current science to guide its future management of sage grouse and their habitats in the Powder River Basin and beyond,” said Dr. Terry Z. Riley, TRCP vice president of policy. “Local populations of grouse should benefit as a result of these new guidelines, yet numerous sites in Wyoming and across the Rocky Mountain West demand similar conservation measures if we’re going to uphold hunting opportunities and sustain a future for this bird on public lands.

“Sage grouse are not the only game species affected by energy development,” continued Riley, a former federal and state wildlife biologist. “Better management actions like these are needed to protect other grouse species such as the lesser prairie-chicken, which, in addition to being threatened by energy development in Colorado and New Mexico, already has been identified by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as warranted for listing under the Endangered Species Act.”

“This one localized action is not going to prevent a listing for sage grouse,” concluded Belinda. “Much more action is required by the federal government – and on a much broader scale – to ensure that public-lands energy development doesn’t continue to threaten the bird’s existence. Willingness by the BLM to engage in decisive and conscientious management of our nation’s natural resources will result in fishing, hunting and outdoor recreation being maintained for future generations to enjoy.”

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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