Grouse decision, take-two

A question that has loomed over the Gunnison Valley for more than a decade has come to another tipping point. The federal government has announced its intention to consider the Gunnison Sage-grouse for listing under the controversial Endangered Species Act (ESA), once again. On Monday, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) alerted the U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., that it would like to take back its decision not to list the Gunnison Sage-grouse -- made in April of 2006. The decision comes on the heels of a second report released by the Inspector General for the Department of the Interior. It found that former Deputy Assistant Secretary of the Interior Julie MacDonald and other Bush Administration officials interfered with biologists' decision-making for multiple endangered species, including the Gunnison Sage-grouse. The agency will conduct another biological status review of the bird, referred to as a 12-month fact-finding process, she said. Such a review usually takes 12 months to complete, but she said the FWS will negotiate with the plaintiffs of the lawsuit to determine a deadline for the new listing decision. Tomichi Creek rancher Greg Peterson said he was disappointed in the recent news. He opined that plaintiffs in the lawsuit are using the ESA as "a tool to get cattle off federal lands." If the bird is listed, the impacts to ranchers could be detrimental, he said. Such a decision could lead the federal government to reduce allowances for grazing on public lands. This, in turn, would increase pressure on private lands -- degrading those landscapes and, ultimately, pressuring ranchers to consider selling their land for development, due to financial difficulties, he said. He also believes that a loss of local control could break-down the collaborative relationships that have been built locally in the last 15 years -- as area stakeholders have tried to preclude the need for an ESA listing of the bird by taking measures to protect it.
"I'm not as likely to be as cooperative under a federal listing," he said...Gunnison Country Times