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Once-common grouse could make comeback if listed as endangered
DAILY HERALD
Caleb Warnock
The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, extinct in Utah County for decades, could make a comeback if a coalition of conservation groups has its way.
The coalition, led by New Mexico-based Forest Guardians, has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse under the Endangered Species Act.
By law, the FWS now has 90 days to respond to the petition, said Rana Banerjee, endangered species program assistant for Forest Guardians. If the agency finds the petition has presented new evidence of the need for protection, it will then launch its own one-year study of the species to determine whether federal protection is warranted.
If the species is listed as endangered, the goal would be to make populations healthy enough to spread back to their historic range, which spanned the Wasatch Front, including Utah County, he said.
"That is the goal; that is the dream," Banerjee said. "We feel there is great potential to restore these birds to a lot of these lands, both public and private. If the bird is listed under the Endangered Species Act, that gives a lot of protection to the bird on public and also private lands in Utah.
"Areas that no longer have Columbian sharp-tailed grouse can be blessed with these birds again."
Government and conservation officials agree that the grouse, one of seven subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse in North America, has vanished from more than 95 percent of its historic range and 96 percent of its range in Utah.
More than 80 percent of the remaining birds are found in Idaho; in Utah the birds are found only in the northern tip of the state, Banerjee said. The birds used to be found in Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Nevada.
Conservation groups had petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the grouse as an endangered species in 1995, he said, but were turned down in 2000 after states made voluntary plans to conserve the animals -- the same year the species became extinct in Montana.
According to Division of Wildlife Resources data, Utah's population of grouse, which had almost disappeared, increased 400 percent after much of its habitat was enrolled in a federal conservation program in 1986. Under the Conservation Reserve Program, the government paid farmers to retire farmland by planting grasses to control soil erosion.
The farmland became protected habitat in a sense and the grouse flourished.
"The Utah population is connected with the larger population in Idaho and that population is heavily dependent on the conservation reserve program," Banerjee said. "Now there are 30 or 40 million acres across the country in this program, but there have been changes under the Bush administration to allow grazing on these lands."
In addition, in 2003 the Bush administration allowed haying and grazing on the land, which coincides with the time when the grouse are nesting and raising chicks, he said.
"We are afraid this population will disappear very soon," he said of the Idaho-Utah population.
Having the birds listed as federally protected endangered species would force states to provide "enough quality habitat to ensure the birds' survival," he said. "Although voluntary conservation plans were created by many states, since listing was denied (in 2000), these plans have not been implemented, or in the case of Idaho, they have been abandoned altogether."
"Risking the future of the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse on the Conservation Reserve Program is irresponsible," said Mark Salvo of American Lands Alliance in a statement. "CRP can no longer provide these birds with the quality habitat they need to survive.
"Columbian sharp-tailed grouse face numerous other threats to their continued survival, including conversion of native habitat to agriculture, livestock grazing, mechanical and chemical treatment of habitat, pesticide and insecticide application, altered fire regimes, invasion of non-native species, both excessive and accidental hunting, inbreeding/reduced genetic fitness, and road and power line construction. The ongoing western drought has compounded these threats, with no relief in sight."
Officials of the Salt Lake City and Denver offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not return calls for comments on this story Friday.
With President Bush now having won a second term, the petition to list the grouse could meet an uphill battle, Banerjee said.
During his eight years in office, Clinton listed 65 species a year, while George Bush Sr. listed 59 species a year. The current president has listed only 31 species total in the past four years.
"And every single one of those listings have been under court order," Banerjee said. "They claim they don't have funds to list these species, but really they are extremely hostile to endangered species.
"We can't wait until it's too late. We need to act now while there is still a chance to save this species."
[i]Caleb Warnock can be reached at 344-2543 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.[/i]This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.
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[/url] | [url "http://www.harktheherald.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=Recommend_Us&file=index&req=FriendSend&sid=40154"][/url]Once-common grouse could make comeback if listed as endangered
DAILY HERALD
Caleb Warnock
The Columbian sharp-tailed grouse, extinct in Utah County for decades, could make a comeback if a coalition of conservation groups has its way.
The coalition, led by New Mexico-based Forest Guardians, has petitioned the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to list the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse under the Endangered Species Act.
By law, the FWS now has 90 days to respond to the petition, said Rana Banerjee, endangered species program assistant for Forest Guardians. If the agency finds the petition has presented new evidence of the need for protection, it will then launch its own one-year study of the species to determine whether federal protection is warranted.
If the species is listed as endangered, the goal would be to make populations healthy enough to spread back to their historic range, which spanned the Wasatch Front, including Utah County, he said.
"That is the goal; that is the dream," Banerjee said. "We feel there is great potential to restore these birds to a lot of these lands, both public and private. If the bird is listed under the Endangered Species Act, that gives a lot of protection to the bird on public and also private lands in Utah.
"Areas that no longer have Columbian sharp-tailed grouse can be blessed with these birds again."
Government and conservation officials agree that the grouse, one of seven subspecies of sharp-tailed grouse in North America, has vanished from more than 95 percent of its historic range and 96 percent of its range in Utah.
More than 80 percent of the remaining birds are found in Idaho; in Utah the birds are found only in the northern tip of the state, Banerjee said. The birds used to be found in Oregon, Washington, California, Montana, Idaho, Wyoming, Utah, Colorado and Nevada.
Conservation groups had petitioned the Fish and Wildlife Service to list the grouse as an endangered species in 1995, he said, but were turned down in 2000 after states made voluntary plans to conserve the animals -- the same year the species became extinct in Montana.
According to Division of Wildlife Resources data, Utah's population of grouse, which had almost disappeared, increased 400 percent after much of its habitat was enrolled in a federal conservation program in 1986. Under the Conservation Reserve Program, the government paid farmers to retire farmland by planting grasses to control soil erosion.
The farmland became protected habitat in a sense and the grouse flourished.
"The Utah population is connected with the larger population in Idaho and that population is heavily dependent on the conservation reserve program," Banerjee said. "Now there are 30 or 40 million acres across the country in this program, but there have been changes under the Bush administration to allow grazing on these lands."
In addition, in 2003 the Bush administration allowed haying and grazing on the land, which coincides with the time when the grouse are nesting and raising chicks, he said.
"We are afraid this population will disappear very soon," he said of the Idaho-Utah population.
Having the birds listed as federally protected endangered species would force states to provide "enough quality habitat to ensure the birds' survival," he said. "Although voluntary conservation plans were created by many states, since listing was denied (in 2000), these plans have not been implemented, or in the case of Idaho, they have been abandoned altogether."
"Risking the future of the Columbian sharp-tailed grouse on the Conservation Reserve Program is irresponsible," said Mark Salvo of American Lands Alliance in a statement. "CRP can no longer provide these birds with the quality habitat they need to survive.
"Columbian sharp-tailed grouse face numerous other threats to their continued survival, including conversion of native habitat to agriculture, livestock grazing, mechanical and chemical treatment of habitat, pesticide and insecticide application, altered fire regimes, invasion of non-native species, both excessive and accidental hunting, inbreeding/reduced genetic fitness, and road and power line construction. The ongoing western drought has compounded these threats, with no relief in sight."
Officials of the Salt Lake City and Denver offices of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service did not return calls for comments on this story Friday.
With President Bush now having won a second term, the petition to list the grouse could meet an uphill battle, Banerjee said.
During his eight years in office, Clinton listed 65 species a year, while George Bush Sr. listed 59 species a year. The current president has listed only 31 species total in the past four years.
"And every single one of those listings have been under court order," Banerjee said. "They claim they don't have funds to list these species, but really they are extremely hostile to endangered species.
"We can't wait until it's too late. We need to act now while there is still a chance to save this species."
[i]Caleb Warnock can be reached at 344-2543 or cwarnock@heraldextra.com.[/i]This story appeared in The Daily Herald on page D1.
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