Environmental group sues over grouse ruling

Idaho officials urge Interior Department to stand pat

By CAROL RYAN DUMAS

Capital Press

An environmental group has sued the Department of the Interior over its sage grouse ruling.

In response to the department's decision that protection for the sage grouse is "warranted but precluded" the Western Watersheds Project sued in federal district court last week challenging the "precluded" portion of the finding.

The group charges that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Department of the Interior violated the Administrative Procedure Act and the Endangered Species Act.

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

Marvel contends human activities, including livestock grazing and agriculture, have decimated sage grouse habitat, and the Fish and Wildlife Service's finding indicates that current conservation efforts are failing to conserve it.

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter, Idaho's congressional delegation and the state's cattlemen disagree, saying Idaho's wide-ranging, collaborative, on-the-ground efforts have improved sage grouse habitat and provide rationale for the agency's determination.

In a letter sent to Interior Secretary Ken Salazar on March 15, Otter and the delegation urged Salazar to stand firm.

"In 1996, the State of Idaho became one of the first states in the country to develop a comprehensive plan for conserving the species and its habitat," the letter reads.

Idaho Cattle Association maintains Idaho ranchers have been a driving force behind voluntary and collaborative processes designed to conserve sage grouse and their habitat, along with multiple-use of the land.

"It has long been our belief that sage grouse can benefit most from locally driven, on-the-ground voluntary conservation efforts rather than broad heavy-handed enforcement measures," the organization said in a written statement.

"In identifying the list of threats to sage grouse, USFWS recognized that well-managed livestock grazing is not a primary threat to the species and that grazing decisions are best made at the local level," ICA stated. "While there are some activist groups who will continue to seek to use this species as a tool to remove livestock from the range, we remain hopeful that common sense and sound science will prevail."

Great sage grouse

* Greater sage-grouse are found in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, eastern California, Nevada, Utah, western Colorado, South Dakota and Wyoming and the Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

* They currently occupy approximately 56 percent of their historical range.

* If trends since the mid-1960s persist, many local populations may disappear within the next 30 to 100 years, with remaining populations more vulnerable to extinction.

Source: Department of the Interior