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Did we win? That's the question greater sage grouse
advocates are asking themselves after Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal (D)
released an executive order Friday detailing his plan to protect the
bird amid Wyoming's boom in oil and gas drilling. And they are coming
up with wildly different answers.
The executive order -- formulated by a working group of energy
developers, environmental groups, and federal and state management
agencies -- designates core habitat areas for the greater sage grouse
and protects the animal by curtailing new drilling and establishing a
conservation buffer zone around important breeding areas, known as leks.
"I
think it is a very proactive attempt toward conservation by
collaborating with multiple stakeholders," said Kevin Doherty, a senior
ecologist with the Audubon Society. "If the recommendations are
followed, I think that's a recipe for a long-term grouse population in
Wyoming."
The order does not, however, designate all sage grouse breeding
grounds for protection -- conservationists estimate they sacrificed
one-quarter of core habitat to safeguard the rest.
The
order also includes a stipulation that "current management and existing
land uses within Core Population Areas should be recognized and
respected by state agencies," meaning that energy development
practices, even destructive ones, will likely be allowed to continue.
And
that makes the governor's plan woefully inadequate, according to Erik
Molvar, a wildlife biologist with the Biodiversity Conservation
Alliance.
"Of the sage grouse population we have in
Wyoming, which is already incredibly reduced from historical levels,
this order might lead to a 25 percent reduction from today's levels,"
Molvar said.
"With the sage grouse on the ropes
nationwide, we need to have no net loss anywhere," Molvar added.
"Instead of allowing additional cuts in the sage grouse population due
to industrial development, we need to be focusing on restoration and
recovery efforts."
But that thinking is not practical,
Doherty says, because the current political and economic climate makes
some development a certainty. The order reflects a necessary compromise
that, despite the concessions, is a positive step for sage grouse, he
added.
Molvar is not so sure. "It's a compromise that does
a great job of protecting the oil and gas industry and a lousy job of
protecting the sage grouse," he said. "Sage grouse will continue to
diminish in Wyoming under this policy."
Freudenthal frets over endangered species decision
Beyond
the protections provided in the executive order, Molvar would like to
see the grouse listed under the Endangered Species Act, which he said
would institute stronger protections and craft a meaningful recovery
plan.
Saying the grouse population has fallen to
dangerously low levels, environmental groups have petitioned the U.S.
Fish and Wildlife Department to list the bird. With its 2005 decision
to keep greater sage grouse off the list rejected by a federal judge as
politically tainted, FWS has said it will produce a decision by
December.
But an ESA listing, which Freudenthal's
executive order states would have severe adverse effects on Wyoming's
economy, is exactly what the governor hopes to avoid.
"A
lot of good work has been done to maintain healthy populations of sage
grouse and other species in Wyoming," Freudenthal said in a statement.
"But as we learned with the grizzly bear and wolf, if it is going to
count for anything under the Endangered Species Act process -- both in
terms of our efforts to delist already listed species and to prevent
the listing of other sensitive species -- our work has to be more
unified under the banner of what the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
terms 'adequate regulatory mechanisms.'"
A decision that rests with BLM
Freudenthal's executive
order is legally binding for state agencies, but not for the Bureau of
Land Management, which controls much of the land designated as breeding
grounds.
Environmentalists say the success of greater sage
grouse recovery, as well as Wyoming's attempts to keep the birds off
the list, depend on how BLM manages its resident populations.
In
May, a coalition of environmental groups protested lease sales on sage
grouse habitat, saying they were too close to the core breeding areas
and would exacerbate population declines.
For now, BLM
remains coy. Spokeswoman Teresa Howes said they were working closely
with the governor's group on sage grouse but remained unsure which
mitigation measures they would or would not adopt.
The Audubon Society's Brian Rutledge hopes whatever BLM does, it is enough to preserve stable stage grouse populations.
"This
is a tremendous opportunity for the Bureau of Land Management to do the
right thing and incorporate these habitat recommendations into their
planning processes," Rutledge said. "We can have sage grouse and energy
development, but we have to be careful how we do this. The time to act
is now."
But for Molvar, it will take more than a few
mitigation measures suggested by the governor or oil and gas lease
stipulations imposed by BLM to save the sage grouse -- hard choices
will need to be made.
"I think the governor is trying to
protect the sage grouse on one hand without slowing oil and gas
development in any way, and that's where this policy falls down,"
Molvar said. "It simply is not possible to protect the sage grouse
without major reforms in oil and gas drilling."
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