Another detour on the road map for Sage Grouse?

Finding our way through the most recent legislative hurdles surrounding a species’ conservation

Species conservation is deeply important in the West, and we need look no further than the collaborative efforts by the Cattlemen and other stakeholders to conserve the great sage-grouse to see a prime example of what successful species conservation should look like. These efforts have prevented a need to list the species under the Endangered Species Act, thus protecting Idaho and the West from the broadly felt and devastating impacts that a listing decision would have. Over the past two decades I have worked tirelessly to defend Idaho and western interests from this type of federal mandate that would damage our economy and compromise our way of life. As I return to the role as Chairman of the House Interior and Environment Appropriations Subcommittee this Congress, one of my highest priorities is ensuring that Idaho retains authority over managing sage-grouse habitat.

BY MIKE SIMPSON U.S. Representative

These collaborative plans brought together a diverse group of stakeholders, including scientific experts, state land managers, conversation advocates, and local industry leaders like the Idaho Cattlemen. In doing so, they show us exactly what species conservation should look like. It should not be a hammer, but instead should bring stakeholders together to share their own perspectives and expertise and listen to the contributions of others. Collaboration brings out the creativity needed to solve tough problems. The state-led process for developing these comprehensive conservation plans recognized the damage a listing decision would have on western economies, and I am convinced that the end-product of efforts by federal, state, and local stakeholders has been far more successful at preserving the sagegrouse than a listing would have been.

When the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service determined that the greater sage-grouse population warranted listing under the Endangered Species Act in 2010, stakeholders came together to develop plans to manage habitat in a way that would prevent the need for a listing. Eleven western states, spanning the entirety of sagegrouse habitat, have each adopted their own collaborative, science-based conservation plans, tailored to address the specific local environment and population. Idaho was a leader in this process, having long served as an outstanding example of how to develop and implement collaborative solutions to conserve species and maintain stability for land users.

That is why I continue to be frustrated that, despite this transparent and scientific approach, the response of extreme environmentalists is to continue litigating and repeatedly filing petitions to list the species. The goal here is to preserve sage-grouse habitat, but even though the Fish and Wildlife Service has repeatedly and consistently found that the state-led conservation plans are successfully meeting that goal, these extremists continue to disrupt that success with litigation that undermines the collaborative efforts of stakeholders. It is so easy to see here what we have long suspected—that these groups are using litigation as a tool to take land management decisions away from the agencies tasked by Congress with those responsibilities and from the men and women who work and live on the land.

The cost of managing lands through the courts is high, both in actual dollars and in the ability of stakeholders to meet legitimate conservation goals. The constant threat of litigation means that some stakeholders simply won’t come to the table and that others spend time and energy engaged in the work of collaboration only to feel they have the rug pulled out from under them. It also siphons funding and energy away from actual land management work, putting any legitimate efforts to achieve collaborative conservation goals in jeopardy. No one wants to participate in a process that will ultimately be dismantled in court.

This is why I have included language preventing the listing of the greater sage-grouse as an endangered species in every appropriations bill since fiscal year 2015. This language has helped, not hindered, the commitment to conserve the greater sage-grouse, because all the groups that actually have a stake in the process—states, federal agencies, and those whose livelihoods depend on the health of the land—have been at the table and can take ownership of the plan they’ve helped to create. This language acknowledges that species conservation is a gradual process that does not conform to an arbitrary court deadline and that we still need stakeholders at the table to provide their expertise and perspective if we want to see this process through to the end. When partners are working together to preserve sage-grouse habitat, we will get farther ahead than we ever would with a listing.

These successful partnerships between land managers and stakeholders have demonstrated that through collaborative work and input from a diverse group of land users, those who live and work on Idaho’s lands can successfully manage sage-grouse habitat. I am more committed than ever to ensuring that this listing prohibition stays in place during the coming appropriations cycle. With this language in place, we can then continue to fund the collaborative work currently being done by state, local, and federal partners—funding which has actually increased with a listing prohibition in place because of the commitment and partnerships of stakeholders who have been empowered to work together to implement these plans.

CHAD DEWITT (CENTRAL TERRITORY)

C: 208.891.0324

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CHAD DEWITT (CENTRAL TERRITORY)

C: 208.891.0324

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1001 W. Main St. Burley, Idaho 83318 208.878.7224

MARK NELSON (CENTRAL TERRITORY)

C: 208.985.4942

C: 208.985.4942

KENZIE STEVENS (EASTERN TERRITORY)

101 Rodeo Ave Caldwell, Idaho 83605 208.459.0806

C: 208.731.2117

1100 W. Main St. Jerome, Idaho 83338 208.733.6145

CHAD DEWITT (CENTRAL TERRITORY)

C: 208.891.0324

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There was a time when I was concerned that the process of protecting the sage-grouse was about to spell doom for ranchers and other land users across the west. Court-imposed deadlines that were clearly intended to undermine the work of state land management agencies kept important stakeholders from the table and forced other state agencies to rush into inadequate plans without sufficient time to make them successful. But legislatively preventing a listing breathed new life into the process and allowed the collaborative process to work. Today what we see instead of a listing that would devastate Idaho’s cattlemen is a model of how species conservation should work. I am grateful to ranchers and other land users who have continued to come to the table throughout this process, and I will continue to do my part by ensuring that states and not the federal government retain management over sage-grouse habitat.

MARK NELSON (CENTRAL TERRITORY)

C: 208.985.4942

KENZIE STEVENS (EASTERN TERRITORY)

KENZIE STEVENS (EASTERN TERRITORY)

C: 208.731.2117

C: 208.731.2117