Leading experts on the greater sage grouse warned the Obama administration today that it must take stronger, more scientifically sound steps to protect the imperiled bird and avoid the need to place it on the endangered species list.
The letter from 11 scientists who have studied the sage grouse urged the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service to finalize amendments that would add grouse conservation measures to as many as 98 BLM resource management plans (RMPs) and Forest Service land-use plans covering millions of acres of public lands across the sage grouse's 11-state Western range.
But the scientists cautioned that the 14 draft plans unveiled in late 2013, and the one completed RMP amendment finalized last year in Lander, Wyo., don't adopt all the necessary sage grouse conservation measures highlighted by the best available science, particularly as it relates to allowable surface disturbance activity in sage grouse habitat.
"This must be fixed in all final BLM RMPs if there is any reasonable hope to avoid an Endangered Species Act listing," they wrote in the letter sent to Interior Secretary Sally Jewell and Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack.
The latest letter underscores the urgency to adopt strong conservation measures to protect the greater sage grouse, which Fish and Wildlife officials are evaluating for possible ESA protection.
..."The scientists' letter affirms that draft federal conservation plans are insufficient to conserve sage grouse," said Mark Salvo, director of federal lands conservation for Defenders of Wildlife. "Fortunately, there is still time to improve the final plans to protect and recover the species per the scientists' recommendations."
Salvo's comments are a threat to sue. Comply with our revisions to the plan or we'll sue and be backed up by the scientific community. That's what the letter is really about.
Let's say Interior doesn't list, the enviros sue and the judge rules against Interior. That will put a politically connected lawyer in a robe and his enviro buddies in charge of 11 million acres. Isn't it time to revise the ESA?
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