The Bureau of Land Management this
past week issued eight guideline memos instructing federal land managers
in 11 Western states as to how they are to carry out policies intended
to protect greater sage grouse — a move that threatens to bury ranchers,
miners, oil and gas explorers and construction companies under a
mountain of paperwork and impose lengthy delays, while doing little to
actually protect the birds.
The
move comes a year after the Interior Department declined to list sage
grouse under the Endangered Species Act but instead issued reams of land
use restrictions meant to protect the grouse, even though the number of
male grouse counted in leks across the West had increased by 63 percent
between 2013 and 2015, according to the Western Association of Fish and
Wildlife Agencies.
Restrictions are being imposed even though sage grouse are legally hunted in many Western states, including Nevada.
Like the record of decision on sage grouse management issued this past September, the memos largely ignore one of the biggest threats to the colorfully plumed, ground-dwelling grouse — predators, primarily ravens and coyotes — and address almost entirely human economic endeavors. The 90-page record of decision used the word predator only once.
The
memos, signed by BLM Deputy Director Steven Ellis, open with statements
of purpose that say they are to provide guidance for analyzing and
establishing thresholds for land use, with separate memos addressing
grazing permits and general surface disturbances.
...If there is a bright spot in any of this micromanaging from Washington, D.C., bureaucrats, it is that two days prior to the memos being sent out the Interior Department inked a deal with Newmont Mining and its ranching subsidiary to jointly manage sage grouse habitat so the company can continue mining operations and exploration, as well as grazing, in Nevada. Wildlife and natural resource agencies of the state helped broker the deal.
...Though the BLM guideline memos envision grazing restrictions to protect grouse, the Newmont deal specifically notes that one of the first pilot projects to be implemented under the agreement will use targeted grazing to reduce cheatgrass, an invasive species that contributes to the frequency and intensity of wildfires.
...If there is a bright spot in any of this micromanaging from Washington, D.C., bureaucrats, it is that two days prior to the memos being sent out the Interior Department inked a deal with Newmont Mining and its ranching subsidiary to jointly manage sage grouse habitat so the company can continue mining operations and exploration, as well as grazing, in Nevada. Wildlife and natural resource agencies of the state helped broker the deal.
...Though the BLM guideline memos envision grazing restrictions to protect grouse, the Newmont deal specifically notes that one of the first pilot projects to be implemented under the agreement will use targeted grazing to reduce cheatgrass, an invasive species that contributes to the frequency and intensity of wildfires.
The
Newmont deal also makes a vague reference to implementing “practices to
reduce human-induced advantages for predators of greater sage-grouse” —
presumably fewer fence posts and power line poles from which ravens can
scout for nests with eggs.
No comments:
Post a Comment