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Contact: Brian Rutledge,
(970) 482-4719
Kevin Doherty, (307) 745-4848
EXECUTIVE ORDER SETS SMART COURSE FOR SAGE MANAGEMENT
APPROACH IS AIMED AT PROTECTING HABITAT FOR WYOMING'S ICONIC SAGE GROUSE
August 1, 2008 (Laramie, WY)—An
executive order issued by Governor Dave Freudenthal endorsing
the conservation of the Greater Sage-grouse amounts to "a
courageous and commonsense act to protect the unique resources
of the region," said Brian Rutledge, Executive Director
of Audubon Wyoming. Based on months of work by community leaders,
conservationists, the energy industry and the agricultural
community, the newly released order puts the Department of
the Interior on notice that it must fulfill its obligations
to protect the grouse and the landscapes that support it.
"The Governor has embraced the recommendations
of countless Wyoming citizens thoughtfully and respectfully
in prescribing a management approach that simply makes sense,"
Rutledge said. "Now it's up to the Department of the
Interior to follow the lead of the state and adopt management
that protects sage grouse habitat along with the economic
and quality of life benefits the land provides to all of us."
The Executive Order sets a strong precedent
for the state’s policy on how to protect Wyoming’s
populations of Greater Sage-grouse. The “Sage-grouse
Core Area Plan” clearly delineates habitat areas that
are critical to maintaining sage-grouse breeding populations.
The order offers guidance to state agencies like the Department
of State Lands on how to continue operating in a manner that
conserves prime sage grouse habitat.
By carefully managing the development
of this habitat, the State of Wyoming will have a far greater
chance of maintaining this challenged species. It will be
up to the BLM on whether or not to adopt the state’s
policy as its own during the next few months. If the agency
decides to adopt the order’s recommendations, it will
need to reconsider its oil and gas stipulations for sage country
and strengthen them considerably.
The unbroken sagebrush country that provides
crucial habitat for the Greater Sage-grouse is one of the
most awe-inspiring landscapes of the Rocky Mountain West.
Places such as the Red Desert, the Upper Green River Valley
and the Powder River Basin support the sage grouse and numerous
other sage-dependent species such as pronghorn, the pygmy
rabbit and the long-billed curlew. The energy boom now gripping
Wyoming is exerting tremendous pressure on the sage grouse
as well as the world-class hunting and recreation opportunities
these same lands provide to citizens.
Says Rutledge, “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. We can have sage grouse and energy development,
but we have to be careful how we do this. The time to act
is now.”
Currently 33 million acres of federal
lands in Wyoming are open to mineral leasing and oil and gas
development. Sage grouse “core areas” that provide
key habitat to the species encompass approximately 10 million
acres of federal lands. If the BLM and industry decide to
seriously consider the recommendations of the State of Wyoming,
development would still be allowed in these areas, but with
effective mitigation requirements in place.
The Greater Sage-grouse once common throughout
the American West has dwindled to a fraction of its former
population. A decision for listing of the species under the
Endangered Species Act is expected from the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service some time this December.
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Audubon Wyoming Vision
Open spaces rich in birds and other wildlife, and citizens
who value that richness. |
