CHEYENNE - Wyoming needs to impose restrictions on residential development and reduce the effects of energy production to help the state's sage grouse population, an advisory panel has concluded.

The Sage Grouse Implementation Team on Monday submitted its recommendations to Gov. Dave Freudenthal. The panel was charged with suggesting how to preserve and improve sage grouse numbers and habitat in the state.

Wyoming is anxious to avoid seeing sage grouse protected under the federal Endangered Species Act. Listing the birds would harm the state's energy industry.

The team recommends that the state increase the acreage exemption for subdividing land from the current 40 acres to 640 acres. It also calls for including natural resource values in subdivision planning requirements.

"This strategy is proposed to minimize the impacts of subdivision development on sagebrush and sage grouse," the team stated in its recommendations to the governor. "A statewide standard would allow for consistency in development planning."

The team also recommends that Wyoming "reduce the footprint of energy development." It states that incentives such as tax exemptions and streamlined permitting could entice industry to reduce disruption of the land where sage grouse live.

Some recent studies have concluded that sage grouse populations in Wyoming's Powder River Basin have dropped by 86 percent from 2000 to 2005 in areas where there was coal-bed methane activity. Grouse populations outside those areas dropped by 35 percent.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management already has imposed seasonal restrictions on energy development in northeastern Wyoming to protect the birds.

The implementation team recommends more surveying and mapping to determine where sage grouse live in Wyoming. The team stated that without knowing exactly where the birds are and their concentrations, it's impossible to plan how to conserve them.

Team member John Emmerich, deputy director of the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, said there aren't many places in the state where there is sagebrush and no sage grouse. "Once we identify these core areas, that's going to narrow our entire focus," he said.

If Wyoming follows the team's recommendations, the team said the state should ask the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to begin working with the state immediately. The team urged the state to pursue federal agreements that could allow the state to continue agricultural activity and energy development even if the sage grouse gains federal protection.

The Endangered Species Act contains a provision that allows private landowners to enter into "candidate conservation agreements." Such agreements could allow Wyoming landowners who take steps to protect sage grouse and their habitat to continue their normal operations if the birds are listed.

Freudenthal's office has said the governor wants to establish a statewide conservation agreement. The governor proposes that private landowners would have the option of enrolling and agreeing to conservation practices.

In its letter to Freudenthal, the Sage Grouse Implementation Team states, "By displaying this level of self-discipline Wyoming can best demonstrate its determination to avoid a need to list this iconic species."

Marion Loomis, executive director of the Wyoming Mining Association, attended Monday's team meeting. While he said he hadn't reviewed all the team's final recommendations, he said he has some concerns.

Loomis said team members have said that their recommendations aren't aimed directly at the mining industry. But he said he sees nothing in their recommendations that specify they won't apply to his industry.

"For a lot of these things to be implemented, there would have to be some sort of enforcement action," Loomis said.

Freudenthal plans a press conference today to discuss the team's recommendations.

* Last we knew: A state panel was looking for ways to keep sage grouse from receiving federal protection.

* The latest: The final list of recommendations includes restrictions on residential development and reducing the footprint of energy development.

* What's next: Gov. Dave Freudenthal plans a press conference today to discuss the team's recommendations.]]->