A key House lawmaker warned Tuesday that even though the Obama administration has decided not to list the sage grouse as an endangered species, the government’s solution to the issue may be about as bad for western states when it comes to development.
The administration’s decision won initial praise from industry groups. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service decided Tuesday not to include the bird under the protections of the Endangered Species Act, and instead, it put in place a plan to work with states to preserve the bird’s habitat.
Industry groups believed that listing the bird as an endangered species would have made development in areas of the west where the bird lives next to impossible. But House Natural Resources Committee Chairman Rob Bishop, R-Utah, said he thinks the government’s plan to work with states could be just as limiting.
“Do not be fooled,” Bishop said. “The announcement not to list the sage grouse is a cynical ploy.”
Bishop said the land management plan that the federal government endorsed Tuesday “is the same as a listing” on the Endangered Species List, and squanders the work done at the state level.
“The new command and control federal plan will not help the bird, but it will control the west, which is the real goal of the Obama administration,” the chairman said. “Some western governors see this for what it is and I will work with them to ensure the rational plans created at the grassroots level that solve the problem will be the way forward to protect this bird.”
Nevertheless, industry groups like the National Rural Electric Cooperative Association, representing the hundreds of power utilities that serve rural America, say Tuesday’s determination deserves praise because it endorses a plan put forward by Western governors, and will enable transmission line development to continue in the west.
The utility group “interprets the … decision as an endorsement of the pro-active, collaborative approach to protecting the sage grouse spearheaded by the Western Governors Association,” reads a statement. It says it “commends the [governors association] for its efforts to develop strong state management plans that will help protect the sage grouse and allow responsible economic activity, including power line development and maintenance, to continue.”
Eleven western states with sage grouse habitat are impacted by the decision: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.
Kirk Johnson, senior vice president of governmental affairs for the rural utility group, says 60 electric co-ops have sage grouse habitats in the areas where they produce and supply electricity. “We believe the Fish and Wildlife Service made the right call by leaving the sage grouse off the list of threatened species. This decision is a win for partnership, pragmatism and plumage.”
