Wyoming Gov. Convenes Sage Grouse Summit

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Taking concern for the life of the sage grouse to a new level, the governor of Wyoming is convening a Sage Grouse Summit on June 27 and 28 in Casper, WY, "to develop a plan to protect and restore core sage grouse habitat."

Headliners include Gov. Dave Freudenthal and C. Stephen Allred, the Wyoming's assistant secretary of the interior, as well as other state and federal officials.

"We have a narrow window of opportunity to protect the grouse and prevent it from being listed as an endangered species," Freudenthal said. "My hope is that we can formulate a more unified plan that will balance protection with reasonable energy exploration, grazing and other activities that have and will continue to take place in sage grouse habitat."

Others joining the conference include: Bob Bennett, Wyoming state director for the Bureau of Land Management; Terry Cleveland, Wyoming game and fish director; Bob Budd, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust, as well as others representing the energy industry, conservation groups and private landowners.

"It promises to be a lively discussion that hopefully will result in a coordinated plan to move forward," Freudenthal said. "I encourage all interested parties to attend so we can immediately begin to address the challenge before us." The conference will be held at Casper College's Krampert Theater. A detailed agenda for the summit will be released soon and posted on the governor's website: http://governor.wy.gov.

 

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Bob Budd, executive director of the Wyoming Wildlife and Natural Resource Trust

He used to run a ranch for TNC. Glad to see he's still in the thick of things.

I'd like to hear the discussion at a conference like these between the biologist, 'dignitaries' (especially Allred), and the oil/gas folks. When I attended a GSG Habitat Connectivity Workshop in Rock Springs in Jan. all the biologist from WY did was tell how bad the oil/gas development had been for sage grouse and how nearly all their mitigative suggestions had been ignored/over ruled.

 

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Agreed there Tyler...all the mitigation "suggestions" in the world aren't going to help anything if little is ever enforced

 

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Heck, by the time they're done in some of that country there will be very little to mitigate.