Ag Policy Blog

Sage Grouse, Prairie Chicken Listing Blocked by Defense Bill Provision

Todd Neeley
By  Todd Neeley , DTN Staff Reporter
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The U.S. House of Representatives inserted language to a must-pass national defense spending bill to block the endangered listing of the greater sage grouse and the lesser prairie chicken. It remains to be seen what happens to the provision in the Senate and whether the legislation would be signed by the president. So far the Obama administration has indicated it will veto the measure.

An amendment offered by Rep. Frank Lucas, R-Okla., addresses the lesser prairie chicken habitat that spans across Texas, Oklahoma, New Mexico, Kansas and Colorado. The species was listed as threatened last year by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. The language would reverse and prohibit the listing of the lesser prairie chicken as threatened and endangered until 2021.

After 2021, the species could not be listed unless the U.S. Secretary of Interior determines that the goals in the range-wide management plan are not being met.

In addition, Rep. Rob Bishop, R-Utah, chairman of the Natural Resources Committee, instituted a provision prohibiting the federal government from instituting its own management plans on federal lands, that go beyond what state plans already have in place.

For years agriculture interest groups have attempted to get the ball rolling on reform to the Endangered Species Act, which has a less-than-stellar record of effectively helping species to recover.

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In a news release Friday, the Public Lands Council and the National Cattlemen's Beef Association applauded the House for what the groups say would be an "arbitrary listing" that would have significant negative effects.

"Livestock grazing and wildlife habitat conservation go hand-in-hand, and ranchers have historically proven themselves to be the best stewards of the land," Brenda Richards, PLC president and NCBA member said in a news release statement. "If sage grouse are designated for protection under the ESA, many ranchers may no longer be permitted to allow livestock to graze on or near sage grouse habitat, habitat which spans across 11 western states and encompasses 186 million acres of both federal and private land. This decision would not only destroy the ranching industry in the west, which is the backbone of many rural communities, it would also halt the conservation efforts currently underway by ranchers."

Richards, who is an Idaho rancher, said state plans already in place to help the species should be allowed to do their job.

"The state plans that are already in place focus on improving sage grouse habitat, through decisions based on-the-ground where impacts to the bird can be best dealt," she said. "Ranchers in particular have consistently lived and operated in harmony with the sage grouse for many decades, and in fact, the core habitat areas are thriving largely due to a long history of well-managed grazing. It is a known fact that livestock grazing is the most cost effective and efficient method of removing fine fuel loads, such as grass, from the range thus preventing wildfire, which is one of the primary threats to the sage grouse. We must allow time for these state plans, orchestrated by folks closest to the land and to the issue at hand, to be fully implemented and to accomplish their goal of protecting this bird."

Richards said the ESA has become "one of the most economically damaging laws" facing livestock producers.

"It is an outdated law that hasn't been reauthorized or updated since 1988," she said. "When species are listed as 'threatened' or 'endangered' under the ESA, the resulting use-restrictions placed on land and water, the two resources upon which ranchers depend for their livelihoods, are crippling. We appreciate the effort to stop and reverse these listings, and before any more listing decisions are made, a hard look at and modernization of the ESA is needed."

The Center for Biological Diversity said in a news release Friday the House vote was unnecessary.

"Despite the fact that the current range of the lesser prairie chicken does not overlap with any U.S. military bases, and the defense department has been a partner in conserving the American burying beetle since 1989," CBD said, "Tea Party Republicans assert, with no supporting evidence that these species interfere with military readiness and must be delisted."

Brett Hartl, endangered species policy director for CBD said in a news release that Republicans essentially are throwing endangered species 'under the bus.'

"This partisan vote isn't about military readiness," he said. "It's about the deep antipathy that most Republicans now direct at endangered species, especially those that get in the way of the oil and gas industry. Republicans know that the overwhelming majority of Americans support the Endangered Species Act, so now they are trying to sidestep the act and science and throw the less well-known species off the ark in the dead of night."

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Curt Zingula
5/18/2015 | 6:43 AM CDT
Good reporting Todd - I appreciate hearing both sides of the story! BTW I feel the Cattlemen have a better handle on the survival of Sage Grouse than the political whiners.
Curt Zingula
5/18/2015 | 6:43 AM CDT
Good reporting Todd - I appreciate hearing both sides of the story! BTW I feel the Cattlemen have a better handle on the survival of Sage Grouse than the political whiners.
Jay Mcginnis
5/16/2015 | 6:41 AM CDT
GOP is the party of dirty air, dirty water, war, torture, racism, anti science, pro corporation,,,, no surprises here.