Sage Grouse & WWP May Be ARE Headed Back to Court !!
~ Jon Marvel

Friends,

Here is Western Watersheds Project's News Release announcing our challenge to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar's political decision of last Friday to "preclude" greater sage-grouse from Endangered Species Act protections.

 Also, please note the link to Online Messenger #171 in the right sidebar.  Many readers did not receive a copy of #171 last Friday because of a composing error for which we apologize.

WWP News Release 3/8/10:

In response to the announcement on Friday March 5 by Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar that the listing of greater sage-grouse and two of its distinct population segments (Mono Basin and Eastern Washington) under the protections of the Endangered Species Act is "warranted by precluded", Western Watersheds Project has filed litigation in federal District Court in Boise, Idaho challenging the "precluded" portion of the finding.

 The litigation charges that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of Interior violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Endangered Species Act by finding that the listing of the greater sage-grouse is "precluded".

"The Obama administration rightfully concluded that the greater sage-grouse fully qualify for the protections of the Endangered Species Act," said Jon Marvel, executive director of Western Watersheds Project.  "Unfortunately, the administration has violated the law in not listing sage-grouse at the same time."

The greater sage-grouse is a charismatic bird that lives in sagebrush steppe in eleven western states.  First described by Lewis and Clark in 1805, nineteenth century travelers and settlers reported seeing huge flocks of sage-grouse that darkened the sky as they lifted from valley floors.  However, westward expansion and development over the next 200 years has eliminated almost half of sagebrush habitat.  The total sage-grouse population, estimated between 140,000-500,000 birds, has declined between 69-99 percent from historic levels.

Myriad human activities in the Sagebrush Sea have decimated sage-grouse habitat, including livestock grazing, oil and gas development, agricultural conversion, application of herbicides and pesticides, unnatural fire, urban sprawl, mining, off-road vehicle use, and the placement and construction of utility corridors, roads, and fences. 

The Fish and Wildlife Service's finding indicates that current conservation efforts are failing to conserve sage-grouse.

"The ever growing effects of development of the sagebrush sea will doom sage-grouse without the mandatory protection provided by listing the species under the protections of the Endangered Species Act." said Laird Lucas, executive director of Advocates For The West, the Boise-based legal advocacy firm representing Western Watersheds Project in the sage-grouse litigation.

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Sage grouse Distribution

Ultimately the protection of Greater Sage Grouse will benefit a diversity of wildlife and habitat on public lands that span the Sagebrush Sea, the most imperiled landscape in North America.  

  Read the WWP News Release

Read the WWP Legal Complaint

 

Mono Basin Area Sage Grouse Need Federal Protection

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has determined that the "Bi-State" or Mono Basin area sage grouse population warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act, but that listing them is precluded by higher priorities. The Bi-State sage grouse are large, ground nesting birds that are found in the vicinity of Mono Lake on the border of California and Nevada. The total population of Mono Basin area sage-grouse is estimated at fewer than 5,000 birds and is declining."

"These magnificent birds need Endangered Species Act protection now" said Michael Connor, California Director for Western Watersheds Project.  "Because most of their remaining habitat is public land, listing would force government agencies such as the Forest Service and Bureau of Land Management to better manage these lands to recover the species. Without this added protection the Mona Basin sage grouse will continue to decline"

Mono Basin area sage grouse are a genetically distinct population of greater sage-grouse. Geneticists have noted that Mono Basin area sage grouse have "a unique history of isolation distinct from all other populations" and are "at least as divergent from other populations of the greater sage-grouse as Gunnison sage-grouse are from the greater sage-grouse."

Read the News Release

WWP Policy Memo #2

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