Policy Makers Consider Sage Grouse

On Monday, a joint meeting of the Senate Resources & Environment Committee and the House Resources & Conservation Committee held a State and Federal Sage Grouse Oversight Hearing.

Virgil Moore, Director of Idaho Department of Fish & Game led off the hearing pointing out that  Idaho is trying to forge a state direction for recovery of sage grouse.

Sage grouse has a biology that is different than that of other ground birds.  They have a low reproductive rate.   They live a long time which presents a different management issue.  Their winter survival rate is very high for land birds and they are very migratory.  Sage grouse home range can often be over 200,000 acres which complicates management.  Total habitat is 15 million acres, of which 10 million is a priority.

Because hens and chicks are so well camouflaged, the males who are much more visible are counted and an estimated number is derived.  There has been downward trend of males returning to the communal breeding grounds known as leks.  Males have a high fidelity to strutting areas.

Currently, hunting for sage grouse is highly restrictive and limited hunting is allowed if an area’s population is sustainable.

Bill Meyers, an attorney with Holland and Hart discussed the litigation history of sage grouse.  In 2005, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that sage grouse did not warrant protection.  That decision was challenged in court by Western Watersheds.  A review led to a decision by the agency that sage grouse listing as endangered was “warranted but precluded” because of the number of species seeking listing and the danger of extinction was moderate.

Another lawsuit was settled giving the agency until 2015 to make a decision.  There are nine ESA cases pending that have been filed by Western Watersheds.

There are 11 states with sage grouse habitat.  The USFWS plus BLM and the Forest Service are putting pressure on the states to move forward on recovery efforts.  Sage grouse habitat recovery will impact all the other multiple uses on BLM land.  All other activities are second priority behind sage grouse.

Nate Fisher, Administrator of the Idaho Office on Species Conservation talked from the biological, legal and policy perspective and what the path forward might be.  This is not an issue just in Idaho but in 10 other Western states.  Idaho was one of the first states to organize local working groups—12 of them.  Congress did provide some funding for the groups but the work has all been voluntary.  USFWS feels there are inadequate regulatory mechanisms that could lead to recovery with Idaho’s efforts. 

Sage grouse could be the spotted owl of the sagebrush steppe.  There is now a sage grouse planning initiative which will cover 11 states.  BLM might move forward with greater restrictions on the entire area –not just the areas where there are birds.

Wyoming has put together a strategy that USFWS says may meet the regulatory requirements.

A continuing issue is how to reconcile a hunting season with the listing.  The question is who decides when there are sufficient numbers of sage grouse across the range of habitat.  Idaho has a huge amount of the best habitat.  The Governor is very interested in working with Wyoming.