Wednesday, April 12, 2017

Reflecting on Success: Greater Sage-grouse Conservation


The heavy toll this new administration has had on the environment is undeniable. In the midst of all this frustration and uncertainty for the future of our planet it is very easy to despair and lose hope. However, we cannot afford to sulk in this gloom. The Earth still needs our help! In order to stay inspired and ‘fight the good fight’, it is important to reflect on and celebrate our successes, however small or temporary.

A relatively recent success from September 2015 is the colossal conservation effort which prevented the Greater Sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) from requiring protection of the Endangered Species Act.

Since the species was first announced to be under consideration for listing by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) in 2010, huge economic losses in western states were feared to be imminent if it took place. Legal protection for the grouse and its habitat would impact energy development, livestock grazing, and housing construction throughout the region. Additionally, conservationists were concerned that listing the sage-grouse would undermine the enormous progress they made in organizing a voluntary effort to preserve sage-steppe habitat, colloquially referred to as the “sagebrush sea.”


After the USFWS assessed the coordinated efforts of federal and state agencies, private landowners, industry, and conservation groups it was determined that threats to the grouse were reduced in over 90% of their breeding habitat. They concluded the species no longer fit the criteria for legal protection.

“It demonstrates that the Endangered Species Act is an effective and flexible tool and a critical catalyst for conservation—ensuring that future generations can enjoy the diversity of wildlife that we do today.”

-Sally Jewell, former Secretary of the Interior

Currently, there are approximately 200,000 to 500,000 Greater sage-grouse inhabiting 173 million acres of sage-steppe habitat across 11 states. Known as an “umbrella species,” sage-grouse habitat requirements benefit the entire sage-steppe ecosystem including mule deer winter range, migration corridors, and sagebrush dependent songbirds such as Brewer’s sparrow and Green-tailed Towhee.

 This effort was overwhelmingly successful because it protected the habitat while still permitting development. In Wyoming, areas critical to grouse were limited to five percent disturbance per square mile which protected 15 million acres. An additional 4.4 million acres of private land were protected by 1,100 ranchers who voluntarily enrolled through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sage Grouse Initiative (SGI). SGI reported land set aside for conservation easements increased by 1,809% since the partnership began.

Other federal agencies including the Bureau of Land Management, which manages the majority of sagebrush habitat acres, and the U.S. Forest Service increased emphasis on sagebrush conservation. Industry also responded with a 60% decrease in conventional drilling and 1,600% increase in directional drilling to reduce impact while continuing energy extraction. Although some are concerned that these new federal regulations are not restrictive enough, a report from the Western Values Project indicates that only 2% of core habitat overlaps with prime drilling areas.

Even though conservation efforts such as those involving the sage-steppe ecosystem are ongoing, it is important to celebrate our victories. By taking time to recognize our successes we can learn what works and make contributions towards future successes.


Sources



 Robert is a recent graduate of Penn State with a degree in Wildlife and Fisheries Science. He has worked a variety of field positions including Canada lynx habitat monitoring, Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, Greater sage-grouse, and snowshoe hares. He is beginning his Masters in Fall 2017 at University of Nebraska-Kearney studying bison spatial ecology.




5 comments:

  1. Really nice post about the Greater Sage-grouse. The loss of habitat seems to be a big topic lately in the natural resource field. Losing habitat will increase the decline of the Greater Sage-grouse and many other wildlife species. I was shocked to see that ranchers, are voluntarily enrolled through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Sage Grouse Initiative. I am glad to see that people do care about wildlife, and are willing to help out in any way possible.

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  2. Habitat loss is the leading cause of wildlife populations decline worldwide, and certainly is in the western United States as well. I do think that finding a way for multiple coexisting land-uses will be the key to future conservation. Energy companies and ranchers are still in it to make a buck, that's not going to ever change, but by finding away to allow both goals to coexist with wildlife conservation may allow for future success.

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  3. Hello Robert,
    I love reading about success stories, although I know what a sage grouse is and what it looks like. I never really knew the kind of trouble they were in. When it comes to these types of species Greater Sage-grouse and ruffed grouse, habitat is everything. Without the habitat the chances of survival is little to none, which is really sad because the biggest cause of habitat loss is us humans. The Endangered Species Act is wonderful because of success stories such as this and the many others like the Bald eagle. We as humans I feel do not really understand what we are doing to these species and their habitats until they are almost completely gone.

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  4. Though this species was and still is decreasing in some areas, in others it has already been opened to hunting again, though (thankfully) it is more restricted than it was in the past. If a state is allowing hunting again does that count as a win in the category of restored listed species? Or should we still keep them on the list and enforce those states to also stop hunting. And how would we regulate hunting in places between the 2 states with very different thoughts on the issue?

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  5. I was really interested in this blog post because I recently completed a management plan for Greater Sage-Grouse in class.It was interesting how different agencies responded to the decrease population of Greater Sage-Grouse. I was surprised about how much effort was spent preventing the listing of the Greater Sage-Grouse. I was glad that everyone took part in the efforts of preventing the listing of the Greater Sage-Grouse. This blog post helped with some of the unanswered questions I had.

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