Sage-grouse may avoid ESA listing

[Oak]

I do see cases that would allow a "waiver" in some instances.

I actually agree. I've just gotten a bit bitter after working primarily on private property the last couple of years where there are no restrictions, until last week anyway.

 

[1_pointer]

1Pointer,

In YOUR opinion how would ESA protection have HARMED the SageGrouse populations?

How could it be anything other than a GOOD thing?

Never said it would. It could be something other than a 'GOOD thing' if you are not a sage grouse. I'm not a fan of single species management...

 

[mtmiller]

BLM Expands Sage Grouse Protections in Wyoming
Although the Bush administration’s decision on whether to list sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act is still pending, protection for the species on public lands in
Wyoming has been significantly expanded after a recent ruling by the Interior Board of
Land Appeals (IBLA). The November ruling upheld Bureau of Land Management (BLM) rule changes issued by the BLM’s Buffalo, WY field office. The new rules, originally published in August, expand the buffer around sage grouse leks (breeding grounds) from the previous distance of two miles up to three miles. Within this buffer, human activities are limited between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. from March to July so as to not disturb breeding grouse.

The Buffalo field office made its decision after recent studies on the effects of oil and gas wells found sage grouse can be affected by activities as far from their leks as four miles.
The rules were challenged by numerous energy companies, and the issue was eventually decided upon by the IBLA. While the new rules only pertain to lands administered by the Buffalo field office, conservationists are hoping the IBLA’s ruling will have broader applicability and will lead to further sage grouse protection on BLM lands throughout the western U.S.

Many conservation groups praised the IBLA’s decision, saying it confirms the BLM’s ability to adapt protections during energy development, even after leases are sold, in order to conserve sage grouse. The new rules will be in effect until the office revises its Resource Management Plan. In 2005, the Fish and Wildlife Service determined that petitions to list the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act were unwarranted, but later a court-ordered review of that decision was initiated in 2007, and a final decision is expected in December.

 

[Oak]

Interesting. This part is a little unclear:

Within this buffer, human activities are limited between 8 p.m. and 8 a.m. from March to July so as to not disturb breeding grouse.

I assume you got this from TWS? I can't find anything on line about this story.

 

[mtmiller]

http://joomla.wildlife.org/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=265&Itemid=185

Then click the PDF hyperlink towards the top

Get The Wildlife Policy News (v18, i6) as a single PDF file

 

[Oak]

That's where I looked, but it is not there now.

This article is under review for updates.

 

[mtmiller]

Click on the PDF hyperlink towards to top of the page.

 

[Oak]

I did, but it is not there. Or am I blind?

 

[Oak]

Sounds like Naugle is confirming what the earlier studies reported.

Bad news for sage grouse takes time to develop
By Brodie Farquhar


December 15, 2008 --
SHERIDAN - The news isn't getting much better about the fate of sage grouse in the midst of energy development projects, according to professor Dave Naugle, associate professor of large scale wildlife ecology of the University of Montana, Missoula.

Research findings demonstrate that impacts from oil and gas development across the state are consistent with those documented previously in the Pinedale Anticline and the Powder River Basin. A time-lag indicated higher rates of lek inactivity and steeper declines in bird abundance four years after than immediately following energy development.

At a presentation last month before the Powder River Basin Resource Council in Sheridan, Naugle said sage grouse numbers decline anywhere there's greater well density than one per 640-acre section.

He reported that researchers have conducted a Wyoming-wide lek analysis, comparing natural gas, coal-bed methane and oil well locations in 2003 to lek activity four years later, in 2007.

Naugle said it takes time for energy development to have an impact on lek actitivity and nesting, and that the impact is incremental in nature - raptors adopt power line poles as roosts and start taking more sage grouse; traffic gets heavier and there's more birds struck by trucks; exotic weeds move in and out-compete the native forbs essential to good nutrition; West Nile virus clicks up a notch or two with the presence of more standing water, and thus mosquitoes, in the area.

The decline in sage grouse activity has the same four-year lag amid the deep gas drilling of southwest Wyoming, as the shallow, coal-bed methane drilling in the Powder River Basin, he added. During that time, adults maintain a high degree of fidelity toward their home lek, but begin to experience higher mortality rates. As for juvenile and young adult sage grouse, they begin to avoid the home lek, said Naugle.

"There are no impacts up to one well per section, so there is a threshold effect," said Naugle. Sage grouse numbers start to decline above that threshold, "and we are seeing impacts happen well below permitted well densities."

"Everything is predicated on a two-mile radius buffer around each lek," said Naugle. That works out to 32.2 square kilometers, or a density of one well per section.

Other new research findings include the fact that lek inactivity doubles at 13-39 wells and jumps to greater-than five times at 40-100 wells.

Even more impacts should also be anticipated in south central and southwest Wyoming where the rate of inactivity more than doubled and bird abundance at affected leks declined by 55 percent to 59 percent at intensities of development that are at 100 wells or below (13-39 wells) those typically permitted on public lands.

There was a glimmer of good news, however.

There were 17 leks that remained active, despite having more than 40 wells nearby, for four years or more.

What that suggests, said Naugle, is that clustering wells to provide open areas for nesting may increase opportunities for restoration by keeping a few small but active leks going on, inside intensely developed landscapes.

In other research, said Naugle, it has proven extremely difficult to try and recreate a sage brush ecosystem from scratch. Of 50 attempts, he said, only three have shown any promise.

Analysis of map data shows that areas with high biological value for sage grouse and low value for energy development makes up about 17 percent of the state.

"We've also learned that sage grouse move more than we thought they did," said Naugle. Hens can travel 10 kilometers out from the lek to lay a clutch of eggs, he said.

"Leks are only an indicator. We really don't know where they go for the winter," he added.

 

[mtmiller]

I did, but it is not there. Or am I blind?

You are blind or just don't follow direction well (industry folk).

I don't think industry is a big fan of what Naugle science has shown the last few years.

 

[1_pointer]

WOW! IBLA is about as close to precendent setting as can be, well at least in the programs that I work most in. So, if I were writing a NEPA document regarding energy work around leks I'd definitely make sure that was cited and considered...

 

[mtmiller]

depends on who you site....

 

[1_pointer]

State the same language as used in the Buffalo FO and cite the IBLA decision. IBLA makes it stick pretty good and is easy to defend and ALJ decision not so much. I just got pleasure of helping a certain NGO understand that...stay request denied!