U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service says sage grouse won't be federally protected

PHOENIX - The sage grouse will not be protected under the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Friday.

"This is great news for everyone across the West, highlighting this administration's willingness to listen to the ideas and perspectives of the scientific community, as well as local and tribal governments and those most impacted by such a listing," U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, R-Colo., said in a prepared statement.

Senators from Montana and Wyoming received calls from the U.S. Department of the Interior on Thursday, saying that the announcement was to be made this week. Interior Secretary Gale Norton told attendees at a private conference Thursday night about the Fish and Wildlife Service decision, but a release was not issued until Friday.

Fish and Wildlife Service Director Steve Williams said in a written statement that he is convinced the agency did a vigorous review of the grouse and its habitat and does not believe that it should be listed as endangered.

He did say, however, that continued conservation efforts should be done to protect the bird.

Listing the bird as endangered would have placed restrictions on grazing, oil and gas leasing and hunting across 150 million acres of sagebrush habitat in 11 Western states.

Federal protections could have had far-reaching consequences, particularly on Bush administration plans for more domestic energy production using public lands.

"This is great news, and I applaud the effort of all those that have been working hard to manage the sage-grouse in our state and across the country," U.S. Sen. Conrad Burns, R-Mont., said in a statement.

The number of sage grouses declined to as few as 142,000. There may have been as many as 16 million of the chicken-like birds in the Western United States and Canada at one time, the government estimates.

The large game bird is brown, black and white and has a mustard-colored pouch on its throat. It has a long, pointed tail and weighs up to eight pounds.

Its habitat sits atop some of the nation's richest natural gas fields in Colorado, Montana, Utah and Wyoming.

Loss of habitat is identified as the biggest threat to the ground dweller. Urban sprawl, traffic, communication towers, and oil and gas exploration disrupt the bird's breeding instincts or provide lookout perches for predators.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the decision about whether the bird needed federal protection after years of pressure from conservation groups. The decision is expected to benefit natural gas and oil producers but anger environmentalists.

"What we have is a group of laws that are terribly flawed and the science that was to support listing a species frequently isn't there. We have seen this time and again, and the attempt to list the sage grouse is a perfect example of a law gone haywire," said U.S. Sen. Craig Thomas, R-Wyo., in a prepared statement.

State biologists, volunteers credited for grouse efforts

Nevada Wildlife Department biologists and volunteers have been instrumental in efforts to help the sage grouse survive in the state, Gov. Kenny Guinn said Friday.

"Citizen conservationists have worked on this issue in Nevada for the past four years," said Gov. Guinn. "They have identified where the bird lives, the risks to the species and they have outlined the work we need to do to protect this beautiful bird and its sagebrush habitat. These volunteers must be credited for providing a breadth of information on the species that was not available previously."

A Sage Grouse Team met over a two-year period beginning in 2001, and initiated a statewide planning effort with seven regional planning groups, including two bi-state groups in California and Nevada. More than 350 volunteer citizens met across the state in town halls or after hours at schools, to work together to identify the risks to the sage grouse and ways to mitigate those risks.

"We are at a turning point in the history of conservation," said Terry Crawforth, director of Nevada Department of Wildlife. "Local people have met all across the West in intensive planning sessions to set a new stage for supporting species conservation. We feel very optimistic that this effort will pay off with implementation on the ground to ensure that sage grouse remain for future generations to enjoy."

- Staff report