Sage Grouse Offers Opportunity for Compromise in Wyoming’s Land Use Battles
By Michael Pearlman, 6-07-09
I consider myself pretty middle-of-the-road when it comes to contemplating energy-development issues in Wyoming. I’m certain that some of my fellow citizens would refer to me as one of those “enviros,” a label I willingly accept. However, I’m not naive enough to expect that the energy industry will ever view Wyoming’s sagebrush flats as anything more than an all-you-can-eat buffet. With an encouraging nod from the party once in power, these companies have been fattening their coffers and extracting at will over the past eight years.
I acknowledge that oil and gas companies pad Wyoming’s bottom line; it is no coincidence that the state’s budget remains in the black while the economies of other states continue to crater. When revenues are down, local governments are quick to feel the effects and jobs can disappear as quickly as they appear. Since arriving in the mid 1990s, I’ve seen the pace of natural gas and coal-bed methane development in Wyoming catch fire. I’m sure a Pinedale resident can spin you an entertaining tale of how their community changed in front of their eyes.
Slowly and surely, Wyoming’s residents are also getting a chance to see firsthand that energy revenues don’t come without a cost to wildlife habitat. There’s no animal that currently exemplifies these impacts as vividly as the Greater Sage Grouse, which experts say could land on the Endangered Species list in less than a year. That possibility doesn’t make environmentalists or energy company executives very happy.
On Friday night, I sat across the dinner table from Brian Rutledge, Executive Director of Audobon Wyoming. Rutledge was a member of the Sage Grouse Implementation Task Force, assembled by Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal to address the problem of declining numbers of the birds throughout the state. Rutledge says that there is no longer a scientific debate about whether energy development has affected sage grouse populations. Sage grouse are particular attached to their breeding grounds (known as leks) and the birds stop breeding when the leks are disturbed, though the effect is not immediately apparent. To Rutledge, the logical next step is to begin initiating policies that would place the least pressure on the areas that are most critical for sage grouse survival.
The governor’s task force produced a series of recommendations, including a map that would guide energy development away from the most sensitive areas. The problem, according to Rutledge, lies with the Bureau of Land Management, which has basically ignored the task force’s recommendations. Instead, he says, the BLM remains overly eager to sell leases on its parcels, paying only cursory attention to other uses and the potential habitat impacts.
Federal agencies are among the first to draw vitriol from Westerners when residents disagree with their policies, and its easy to blame far away bureaucrats in Washington for just about anything. The blame game takes place on both sides of the fence, from pro and anti-energy development parties. Right now, a series of wind projects are in various states of development in Wyoming, as energy companies look to diversify their portfolios. Anyone who’s driven I-80 recognizes that parts of Wyoming offer perfect conditions to harness this power source. Transmission lines would also have to be built and the industry would create jobs in the state, but widespread wind energy development also threatens the sage grouse. The critical decisions come with where oil, gas and wind developments occur, and how dense the projects are.
As the price at the pump once again begins creeping upwards, it’s past time for both Wyoming and the federal government to show some foresight and begin thinking about the long-term future of the energy industry and its effects on Wyoming’s lands. Is Wyoming going to look back at this period as a missed opportunity for parties to come together in an effort to intelligently diversify our state’s economy? Will sage grouse wind up an endangered species, leaving energy companies to spend more money on legal battles and environmental studies in order to continue operations? Will Wyoming watch from the sidelines as green energy projects head for other locations?
The real solution will come when all interested parties recognize the need for mutual cooperation, then sit down at the table to try to work out an acceptable solution that will provide the most help, not harm, to the people, landscapes and wildlife of Wyoming. The debate doesn’t have to include only the “Drill baby Drill” crowd on one side and tree-sitters on the other. We all drive cars, want clean air and hope to figure out a path that leads to a healthy, sustainable future, instead of a dead-end road leading to a barren landscape.
Bookmark Michael Pearlman’s New West Blog at www.newwest.net/generationrecreation
[End of article]While the focus on aviary depredation was on the raptors, particularly in the age of aquarius, few focused on the loss of habitiat and the loss of life for all the gamebirds whose name is "grouse". Now that the ruffed grouse is at its lowest numbers and dropping and the sage grouse appears to be the same, someone is saying something. It will take the loss of these species and the end of habitat for these species to awaken the country to loss of these gamebirds. Eagles and ospreys appear to be making a dramatic comeback as DDT was banned in the 60's. Now it appears all we had to do was cut timber, replant and reharvest to create ruffed grouse habitat. And all we have to do is maintain praires to keep our sage grouse, but all we had to do was the opposite. Cut trees, create parking lots and never replant. destroy vast tracks of land to create new developments with no regard to what we are doing. Allow suburban WalMarts to build in the cowboy way, wherever, whenever they want and when they want to move, simply leave the parking lot and building there. Who cares? The days of unbridled expansion are over. The days of doing without thinking are over. These news stories always bring out the folly of our ways. Grouse are almost done. What will be the next species?
Comment By logger, 6-08-09Is it out of the question for the "hook and bullet" crowd to support a moratorium on hunting or trapping any species that's in such decline? I realize that our game management agencies want every conceivable dollar from hunting license, trapping and fishing sales, almost to "the point of no return" for some species, but curtailing hunting and trapping would certainly help along with other efforts in rebuilding depressed species.
Comment By Jack W., 6-08-09I have asked hunters and fishermen to support a moratorium on grouse hunting in the east (an informal poll, asking friends) and they seem to be opposed to it, adamantly. They feel that Pittman Robertson funds should have been used to support this agenda. They also feel that states such as Michigan, that support and develop their wild grouse habitat are doing what they are supposed to, so why stop grouse hunting. They also feel that if you stop ruffed grouse hunting for a year, that poachers will still hunt and the few remaining birds will be used up by illegals
so, their motto might be "get it while you can." The last time i saw a grouse in Ohio, i was rabbit hunting and did not shoot at the bird for fear it might be one of the last grouse in northeastern Ohio.
My friends in Idaho recognize that spruce grouse, or fool's hens, fluctuate with the year, but almost all my hunting for spruce grouse involves shooting them with the bow. The same applies to Blue Grouse. I will note, however, that four years ago, i went on a shotgun hunt for grouse in the foothills where eight years before there was a plentiful population of blues and spruce. There were none after four hours of marching among the cow pies and the SUV tracks. One of the joys of an elk hunt in the west has always been shooing "chickens" with your bow, when you stumble across populations of grouse while seeking elk. I doubt westerners would take kindly to a moratorium on these species. My informal poll did not extend to them. Jack W.
Sorry, Mr. Pearlman, I don't think most people would think of you as anywhere near the middle of the road when it comes to energy. And, your friend Rutledge is just plain wrong when he declares the scientific debate is over for the cause of declining SG populations. Yes, populations declined but the fact remains that other factors have contributed -- the persistant drought, for one, predators for another. And, new studies show once development activity ends and the well goes into production, these former (?) game birds return to old leks and get busy with it. So, what will you say once normal rainfalls return and SG populations rebuild? I'll look for a follow up in a couple years.
Comment By w-Liz, 6-10-09Today the Coalbed Methane Coalition folks painted a very rosy picture at a Sheridan meeting. Water good, development good, life is good. No mention of sage grouse, elk, pronghorn etc. They did say that 85% of 800 surveyed people in Wyoming thought that development activities (energy, logging, grazing) could co-exist with recreation, hunting, fishing and PRESERVATION of public lands. If that's so important to industry to espouse, then why aren't they supporting initiatives of protecting leks, hunting and fishing areas and new wilderness? If we are to "compromise" does that mean 50/50 or develop 80% of our public lands and protect 20%? Ask the Wyoming BLM to allow the "compromise" of public participation in Government Cooperator Meetings. Public land managers should allow the public to take part.
Comment By Sarah Egolf, 6-11-09Excuse my shameless plug for my organization's work, but it's germane:
Please visit Biodiversity Conservation Alliance's website for an even-handed, scientific wind report which shows how and under what conditions wind can be developed in Wyoming while avoiding wildlife and cultural conflicts. The report can be downloaded at: http://www.voiceforthewild.org/WindPowerReport.pdf