Sage grouse planning do-over

This article discusses the last Trump/Zinke twist in the effort to prevent sage listing of the greater sage grouse under ESA.  While sage grouse habitat on federal lands is mostly under BLM jurisdiction, the Forest Service is also a big player, and 20 forest plans were amended in 2015 to include conservation measures that were relied on by the Fish and Wildlife Service in its decision to not list the sage grouse.  Many of the laws and principles in play here also apply to other at-risk species on national forests.  Here are is one principle from Republican Wyoming Governor Matt Mead that I think is especially relevant right now:

“We can’t have wholesale changes in wildlife management every four or eight years. I don’t think that is the best way to sustain populations or provide the necessary predictability to industry and business in our states.”

And then there’s this:

The oil and gas industry group Western Energy Alliance has called for action following the federal review of the sage grouse plans. The group was not one of the key players in developing the plan in Wyoming, but has been vocal on the need for changes that support energy development.

(Where have we heard complaints about something like this before?)

1 thought on “Sage grouse planning do-over”

  1. And Idaho governor slams federal employees:
    http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/idaho-wary-obama-leftovers-working-sage-grouse-plan-50541240

    “You have to know and you have to realize that there are a lot of prior administration folks still in those bureaus,” Otter told state workers at an Idaho Land Board meeting Tuesday. “We have to recognize that we also have a lot of leftovers that were designers of the sage brush focal areas.”

    John Freemuth, a Boise State University environmental policy professor and public lands expert, said political appointees in the Obama administration engineered the focal areas. “The political people are gone,” he said. “The careerists who remain aren’t leftovers. They are trained professionals who have experience. My take is that the careerists have to work with what is developed above them.”

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