LegiStorm

Summary:

The greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) is a squat, feathered, chicken-like bird that is currently found in 11 western states. For more than 25 years, there has been considerable controversy concerning whether to list sage-grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA; P.L. 93-205). On October 2, 2015, the Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS, Department of the Interior) published its decision not to list the greater sage-grouse as threatened or endangered under ESA. Under the act, one of the factors that can lead to a listing is the inadequacy of existing regulatory mechanisms. However, FWS concluded that existing regulatory mechanisms for lands under federal, tribal, state, or local control were adequate to avoid the need to list the species. Before the listing decision, federal, state, and local governments, as well as other stakeholders in the states where sage-grouse are still found had undertaken extensive efforts to develop conservation plans, monitoring, and other actions to obviate the need for listing sage-grouse. These efforts included collaboration across levels of government, action plans by state governments, voluntary federal programs to assist private landowners in conserving sage-grouse habitat, and revisions in the land management plans of federal agencies. To be considered adequate regulatory mechanisms, various courts held that these efforts had to meet certain tests. Prior court cases meant that FWS had to determine, in order to reach its conclusion not to list the species, that the regulatory mechanisms of these various levels of government were (1) in effect at the time, (2) not discretionary, and (3) adequate to avoid the need to list the species. After FWS decided not to list sage-grouse, it fell to other federal agencies and other levels of government to carry out the commitments that had served to avoid listing. All 11 states have plans and programs to address the varying threats to the species in each state. For private lands, the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS, Department of Agriculture) has led voluntary conservation efforts. NRCS uses existing federal conservation programs to help farmers and ranchers benefit sage-grouse. On federal lands, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM, Department of the Interior) and the Forest Service (FS, Department of Agriculture) have had the greatest role in conserving sage-grouse because more than half of the bird's remaining habitat is found on BLM and FS lands. In September 2015, after a review process including public notice and comment, the two agencies signed records of decision amending 98 land and resource management plans covering the range of the sage-grouse. Lands identified as the most valuable habitat will be given the highest level of protection. The plans have three goals: (1) to improve sage-grouse habitat condition; (2) to minimize new or additional surface disturbance; and (3) to reduce the threat of rangeland fire to sage-grouse and sage-grouse habitat. Controversy after the FWS decision has focused particularly on the revised land management and conservation strictures adopted on federal lands. The amended plans are proving controversial with various industries, including energy developers, which argue that the development restrictions on high-value habitat under the plans are placing a burden on their activities that is as restrictive as a decision to list the species. A number of bills and amendments have been introduced in the 114th Congress to address aspects of sage-grouse conservation on specific lands. A common theme in the bills and amendments is a greater role for states in species conservation, with varying amounts of state preemption of federal land management plans. Some measures would provide exemptions from judicial review.