He plans summit to develop protection plan
JARED MILLER Star-Tribune capital bureau | Posted: Thursday, May 31, 2007 12:00 am
CHEYENNE - Turning the spotlight on one of Wyoming's more fragile wildlife species, Gov. Dave Freudenthal Wednesday announced plans for a "Sage Grouse Summit" at the end of June.
In a release to the news media, Freudenthal concluded, in stark terms, that the consequences of ignoring sage grouse would be "dire for both the bird and all interested parties," including the agriculture and oil and gas industries.
"We have a narrow window of opportunity to protect the grouse and prevent it from being listed as an endangered species," Freudenthal said.
The announcement of the meeting, on June 27-28 at Casper College, follows a pair of reports that paint a gloomier picture of Wyoming's sage grouse habitat than some experts had predicted.
It also coincides with efforts in federal court in Idaho to force the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to extend Endangered Species Act protection to the grouse, an action that could cripple energy development in Wyoming and the West.
"My hope is 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," said Freudenthal, who will be joined at the meeting by Assistant Secretary of the Interior C. Stephen Allred.
Sage grouse numbers have enjoyed a recent upswing in Wyoming, but the long-term trend is less positive.
The shy birds occupy about 44 percent of their native habitat in the 11-state region of the West where they were originally found.
The grouse, which require enormous amounts of land to thrive, are found largely in areas now under pressure from booming energy development. Some seasonal restrictions on drilling are already imposed, but those measures are having limited success.
Conservation and energy representatives said they look forward to Freudenthal's sage grouse meeting.
Rick Robitaille, spokesman for Anadarko Petroleum Corp., a major player in Wyoming's energy fields, said he welcomes the opportunity to meet and compare notes on an issue that effects the entire state.
He said the industry needs to strive for technologies that allow energy extraction while protecting sage grouse habitat. Oil and gas companies in Wyoming have contributed hundreds of thousands of dollars to help offset the impact of drilling on wildlife populations.
"The sage grouse is a bird that covers a wide range, and Wyoming and Montana are some of the last bastions of the habitat, and we must do what we can to produce the energy the country needs while at the same time looking after the bird and its habitat," Robitaille said.
Citizen groups draw fire
Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist with the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance in Laramie, said the meeting is "certainly a very strong step in the right direction.
"The real key is to make sure that out of this summit comes real action and real on-the-ground steps to change the course of activity out there in sage grouse habitat that keeps that habitat functioning and vibrant," added Molvar, whose nonprofit group works to protect wildlife and wild places in Wyoming and surrounding states.
Freudenthal's spokeswoman, Cara Eastwood, said the June meeting represents an opportunity to "learn from each other, share knowledge and get everybody speaking the same language."
She said it isn't a signal that current initiatives to protect sage grouse habitat, including efforts by eight citizen working groups across the state, are somehow failing.
Formed as part of the state's official sage grouse management plan in 2004, the citizen groups are a key component of the strategy to preserve the grouse and prevent Endangered Species Act protection.
"Instead of diminishing the idea of these local working groups, which I think have done a lot of important work, it really just says there are a lot of different efforts under way to preserve the birds, and this is a forum for all of them … to get together and talk about coordinating efforts," Eastwood said.
By contrast, Molvar said that while the groups are adept at addressing small-scale improvement projects, they have been unable to come to grips with the impact of oil and gas development on sage grouse, and how to make energy extraction compatible with a healthy grouse population.
"The sage grouse working groups were constructed in such a way that every interest group has veto power, and the energy interests on these groups have effectively blocked any reforms on oil and gas development that might have solved the problems that are posed by industrial development in sage grouse habitat," Molvar said.
Scientists concerned
A study released in 2006 by a University of Wyoming doctoral student found declines in breeding males in sage grouse mating areas, or leks, near drilling rigs.
The study, which looked at leks in the Pinedale Anticline and Jonah natural gas fields in western Wyoming, also found that the negative impacts on grouse behavior lingered after extraction activities had ended.
It further concluded that Bureau of Land Management restrictions on drilling near sage grouse leks was insufficient to protect the birds, which are considered a strong indicator of the health of sagebrush habitat.
A report released in 2006 by a University of Montana researcher noted precipitous declines in the number of sage grouse in the Powder River Basin, where much of the state's coal-bed methane production takes place.
The research concluded that year-round restrictions on coal-bed methane development are needed in some places.
"I personally have been surprised at the magnitude of what is being seen in some of the research," said Tom Christiansen, state sage grouse coordinator for the Game and Fish Department, adding that scientists are working to double check the findings of the studies as part of the normal peer review process.
Reach capital bureau reporter Jared Miller at (307) 632-1244 or at jared.miller@casperstartribune.net.