Governor questions sincerity of feds promising to work with the states to protect sage grouse

In October the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service proposed to designate as threatened — under the terms of the Endangered Species Act — the bi-state greater sage grouse found along the northern California-Nevada border, supposedly a distinct population segment of about 5,000 remaining birds.

At the time I suggested this move did not bode well for the rest of the state and the 10 other states where the greater sage grouse live.

A Mono Basin sage grouse. (National Park Service photo)

The bi-state grouse designation would set aside nearly 1.9 million acres in Carson City, Lyon, Douglas, Mineral and Esmeralda counties in Nevada, as well as land in Alpine, Mono and Inyo counties in California, as critical habitat. This could lead to restrictions on mining, grazing, farming, fences, oil and gas exploration, roads, power lines, wind turbines and solar panels, various forms of recreation and more — costing jobs and economic development.

Apparently, Gov. Brian Sandoval had similar fears. According to the Reno Gazette-Journal, he wrote a letter to Interior Secretary Sally Jewel on Nov. 18 saying he was “deeply disappointed and concerned” that the federal agency cast aside the state’s years-long effort to protect the sage grouse.

“It is especially troubling that this listing has been proposed in the face of more than a decade of conservation and restoration initiatives” and fact the bi-state grouse population has been stable or increasing over the last 12 years, the Reno paper quoted from the letter.

Sandoval said the proposed listing of the bi-state grouse raise questions about the sincerity of the Interior Department’s promises to work with states on this matter.

The Sagebrush Ecosystem Council, created by the 2013 Nevada Legislature, has been trying to find ways to convince Fish and Wildlife that the greater sage grouse and its habitat can be protected without resorting to listing under the Endangered Species Act, which creates so many arbitrary restrictions on land use.

The sounds like the governor has his doubts about any effort will satisfy the Washington bureaucrats bent on locking up more and more Western land and keeping out the citizens and economic development.

The Reno paper quoted

Ted Koch, Nevada director for Fish and Wildlife, who was dismissive of the governor’s concerns, and made the ludicrous statement:

“Given they are both sage grouse and experience similar threats, they are parallel. Procedurally, there is zero nexus — like ants and elephants.”

Fish and Wildlife has been known to alter the data to satisfy its environmental constituency. It lists predators low on its threat scale for sage grouse, even though in 1989, Nevada Department of Wildlife planted 1,400 chicken eggs in 200 simulated grouse nests during the 15-day period when sage hens lay their eggs. All the eggs were destroyed by predators, mostly ravens.

The state should attack this problem from all fronts, including filing suit in federal court to point out the duplicity of the federal agencies making decisions that should be made by the states and counties.