Published 2:42 am Thursday, October 8, 2015
WATERVILLE, Wash. — A conservation district in Washington’s largest sage grouse area has signed a general conservation plan with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
The Foster Creek Conservation District, in Central Washington, is telling members that it’s vital to carry out the plan even though the federal agency recently decided not to list the sage grouse as threatened or endangered.
USFWS may still list the sage grouse in five years if state and local entities don’t do enough to protect it, said Jonathan Merz, manager of he district.
USFWS officials in Spokane agreed.
Sage grouse are protected by the state and are an important part of the state’s shrub steppe habitat, said Russ MacRae, USFWS field supervisor in Spokane.
“We’re excited that agricultural people in Douglas County are working to conserve species,” said Michelle Eames, USFWS biologist in Spokane and an author of the plan.
The district covers Douglas County and is headquartered in the county courthouse in Waterville and has been working toward a plan for sage grouse and other species since 1998.
On Sept. 18, the district signed an agreement with USFWS that covers sage grouse, federally endangered Columbia Basin pygmy rabbits, the sharp-tailed grouse and Washington ground squirrels.
“After many years and with the help of many people, the district is proud to be the first conservation district in the nation to lead a complete a general conservation plan,” Merz said.
He said he’s looked at all habitat conservation plans on record and that most are written by companies and very few by groups of individuals.
The agreement covers 879,000 acres of private agricultural land in Douglas County where approximately 650 sage grouse live. Some of the land is in the Conservation Reserve Program.
The plan requires ranches or farms to have Natural Resources Conservation Service plans and allows ranchers and farmers to tailor their own plans for protecting sage grouse and the other three species within the district’s general conservation plan, Merz said.
Individual plans will identify habitat areas and seek to protect and improve them. Plans will protect sage grouse nests in the ground and may include staying out of the birds’ mating dance areas at night. Plans could include different types of tillage and developing borders of native vegetation around planted fields.
The district will help landowners write the plans, which will go to USFWS for approval.
The plans enable ranchers to receive Section 10 takings permits, which means USFWS won’t hold them liable and will defend them against third-party lawsuits if they are following their plans but accidentally kill some of the species or accidentally damage their habitat, Merz said.
A farmer can still farm in parts of habitat if it is in his accepted plan. Farmers are not liable for the number of a species on their land but are liable for the amount of habitat, he said.
About 150 ranchers and farmers in the county are expected to write individual plans, Merz said. That’s the majority of those in areas of concern, he said.
“We made a deal and said if you give us local control to manage habitat the way we know how, we will take care of the problem,” Merz said. “And they (USFWS) said OK. The onus in on us.”
The district will celebrate the signing of the general conservation plan at 9 a.m. Oct. 26 with a sage grouse habitat tour followed by a noon lunch at the North Central Washington Fair Grounds in Waterville. A ceremony starts at 1 p.m. The public is welcome and asked to RSVP at www.fostercreekcd.org or at 509-888-6372.
