Ranchers Request Their Land Be Left Out Of Sage Grouse Protected Area

Some landowners are expressing concern about how expanded sage grouse protections could affect their private property rights. At a state sage grouse meeting last week in Douglas, two ranchers requested that their property be removed from the grouse’s current protected areas or be left out of proposed additions. Rancher and attorney Peter Nicolaysen has property inside the bird’s core area now but a proposal would add even more. He says he’s worried about proposals that would make it difficult for him to drill new water wells within the bird’s so-called buffer zone, which is six-tenths of a mile around any sage grouse breeding ground. “We’re constantly trying to improve our water capacity,” Nicolaysen says. “And we certainly don’t want to be restricted and don’t feel it’s appropriate for those types of activities to be considered exempt activities.” He said if he needed more water in a buffer zone, he’d have to get a biological review...more