Governor finds major ally on grouse, power line

Gov Butch Otter

Idaho Republican Gov. Butch Otter had a single request for Interior Secretary Sally Jewell when they met in Washington in late October.  "What the governor said is, 'What I really want is a seat at the table,' " said Otter's chief counsel, Tom Perry, who was at the meeting. "And Jewell said, 'Yeah, you've got one.' " In the two weeks following the meeting, the Bureau of Land Management announced actions that demonstrated Idaho had won that seat. Now, the state and the feds must decide how far they are willing to go to keep working together on two of the most sweeping and contentious land management issues in Southern Idaho. First, BLM chose "co-preferred" alternatives for a sage grouse conservation plan to amend 21 resource management plans and eight Forest Service land use plans over 10 million acres of public land in Idaho and Montana. One of the two alternatives was the Idaho sage grouse plan written by a team Otter created. The plans are designed to help keep the sage grouse from becoming an endangered species, a decision that could limit livestock grazing, energy development and growth across the West. U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill has set 2015 as the deadline for the federal agency to deliver sage grouse plans that cover the entire region, dictating decisions this coming spring. "It is essential that the state and the federal agencies pull in the same direction," said Will Whelan, public affairs director for the Nature Conservancy of Idaho. A week after the grouse plan decision, Jewell announced a final recommendation for the 990-mile Gateway West Transmission Line across Wyoming and Idaho - including a decision to defer choosing the route for two lines near the Morley Nelson Snake River Birds of Prey area south of Kuna. The BLM announced it would resurrect discussions among stakeholders to work on finding alternatives to routes through Kuna and across private land in Owyhee County that local and state officials oppose. But the BLM decision on the Gateway route did include corridors through Power and Cassia counties opposed by local officials. The BLM said it simply had no other choice because it has to avoid high-quality sagebrush habitat critical to the survival of the grouse. Otter's version of the sage grouse plan would have allowed the alternative routes preferred by local officials, though with more costs and risks to the birds. "If we have a reasonable alternative that is feasible, we should have control," said Doug Balfour, a Pocatello attorney who represents Power and Cassia counties...more

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/11/23/2887412/otter-finds-major-ally-on-grouse.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: http://www.idahostatesman.com/2013/11/23/2887412/otter-finds-major-ally-on-grouse.html#storylink=cpy