Ranchers say new guidelines governing sage grouse habitat on public lands are unnecessary and vague, while environmentalists argue they are too weak. Sage grouse, a chicken-size bird known for its unique mating ritual, inhabit about 47 million acres of Bureau of Land Management land across much of the West. In late December, the BLM released two instructional memorandums temporarily governing sage grouse habitat in 10 Western states. One memo covers mining, oil and gas leasing, grazing and other common activities on public land. The other memo stated BLM employees must consider all applicable conservation measures in large-scale resource management planning for BLM lands that include sage grouse habitat. The BLM memorandums will remain in effect until individual land-use plans can be updated for each of 68 habitat areas. Idaho Cattle Association President Richard Savage, as a member of the Upper Snake Working Group, helped draft a site-specific plan to protect sage grouse in one of the bird's major strongholds. The working group's plan was designed to maintain adequate stubble height for sage grouse nesting in grazed areas, among other safeguards, Savage said. Savage now believes broad, duplicative federal regulations have supplanted years of work by a diverse group of stakeholders at the state level. "We feel like the thing is pretty well covered, so it's an interesting situation they feel we keep needing more regulations," Savage said. "Our frustration isn't with the agencies as much as those forces that create the unnecessary layer." Savage opposes language in the memorandums requiring a no-grazing option to be considered in environmental assessments. BLM officials note that provision was mandated by the courts. Environmentalists have also criticized the BLM's interim guidelines, convinced they have "no teeth."...more
Enviros oppose voluntary, local solutions because they have limited or no control over them. The feds oppose them because they make the feds look incompetent.
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