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August 1, 2008

Governor’s grouse plan puts BLM on notice
Conservationists: Protecting remaining grouse strongholds should be job one

LARAMIE –A new State of Wyoming plan that identifies the most important remaining core areas for sage grouse in Wyoming is an essential first step to meaningful grouse protection in the state, conservation organizations said today. But the apparent intent to allow gas development inside these critical core areas raises questions about whether the plan would successfully protect either grouse or their habitat, they said. 

In an executive order issued today, Gov. Dave Freudenthal endorsed a grouse management framework that seeks to protect most but not all of Wyoming’s key grouse habitat. The plan identifies core areas that create 4-mile buffers around the most populous leks, the traditional strutting sites where sage grouse concentrate to display and breed. Biologists estimate these leks attract 83 percent of the peak population of breeding males. Some 61 percent of Wyoming’s currently active leks fall within the core areas.

“We applaud the Governor for recognizing the importance of these core areas for conserving sage grouse,” said Sophie Osborn, Wildlife Program Manager for the Wyoming Outdoor Council. “By issuing this order, Governor Freudenthal is sending a message to federal agencies, especially the Bureau of Land Management, that the current land-use policies aren’t doing enough to protect declining sage grouse populations in the state.”

Biologists, however, questioned loopholes in the guidelines that would allow gas development in these core areas despite a wealth of new research that shows a precipitous decline of grouse populations in gas fields. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is studying these data as part of a new listing decision for the species, due in May 2009.

“Some of Wyoming’s best grouse habitat has already been ruined by oil, gas, and coalbed methane drilling,” said Erik Molvar, Wildlife Biologist with Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “The Bureau of Land Management needs to start implementing real protections in core areas immediately if they want to avert an endangered species listing.”
 
But biologists questioned whether the measures outlined by Freudenthal would be enough to stem grouse declines. The new policy recommends that development should occur in core areas only in cases where it can be demonstrated that there will be no negative impacts on the birds. On the other hand, the Executive Order relies heavily on voluntary measures and promotes a “non-regulatory approach” for managing the species.  The order explicitly supports development with some limits, rather than using No Surface Occupancy measures that protect key habitats from industrial impacts.

They also noted that the BLM, which is under tremendous pressure from industry to facilitate development, is under no obligation to adopt Freudenthal’s recommendations.

 “The proposed recommendations are a prescription for further fragmenting and isolating populations of sage grouse in Wyoming,” noted grouse biologist Clait Braun. “What they  should focus on is maintaining large blocks of habitat with suitable corridors for [grouse] movement. Once maps of 'populations' are distributed, there will be a constant nibbling of the edges until the habitat is no longer viable to support sage grouse. I am amazed that a Sage Grouse Implementation Team would even offer such a ridiculous plan to the Governor.”

Biologists outlined other concerns with the core area concept: Some core areas identified for protection are already experiencing heavy levels of oil and gas development. For example, one of the identified core areas will be completely encompassed by the Atlantic Rim coalbed methane project, where 2,000 wells and a thousand miles of roads are planned. The BLM acknowledges that “probable development would threaten sustained use of the area by sage grouse.”[1]  The limited number of core areas in other places, like the Powder River Basin, may not prevent sage grouse from vanishing from these areas

“The bottom line is that at best this policy would only protect two-thirds of Wyoming’s sage grouse habitat,” said Mark Salvo, Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians. “With grouse numbers as low as they are, writing off one-third of their habitat is the kind of half-measure that got us in the trouble we’re in today.”

If this core area concept is going to work for the grouse, then core areas need full protection from industrial development, the groups said. “We need to put new drilling on hold in these areas and impose stricter regulations on current drilling at least until sage grouse populations have increased to the point where Endangered Species listing is no longer a consideration,” said Molvar.

[1] <#_ftnref1> Rawlins Resource Management Plan Final EIS, p. 4-332.