 Sportsmen’s groups are deeply concerned with bills introduced in Congress yesterday that would give states the management authority over current or future sage-grouse restoration efforts, including those on federal lands. While still reviewing the details of Colorado Senator Cory Gardner’s bill, entitled the “Sage-grouse Protection and Conservation Act,” and a companion House bill from Representative Chris Stewart of Utah, sportsmen believe the proposed legislation would actually hurt sage-grouse conservation efforts and undermine the current collaborative planning process. These bills are being mischaracterized as “a path forward to allow states to implement state-created conservation and management plans.” But eleven western states have already embarked on historic cooperation and planning efforts to thwart a listing of the range-wide population of greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act, a result that was achieved on April 21 for the bi-state population of sage-grouse in California and Nevada. That said, many state plans are currently inadequate, with few, if any, binding assurances that can’t easily be circumvented. The Gardner-Stewart bills would rely on such plans to ensure the birds’ future.
The proposed legislation also represents an unprecedented shift of management responsibility to the states for federal land management. It appears to erode the implementation of bedrock conservation statutes—such as the National Environmental Policy Act, Endangered Species Act, Federal Land Policy and Management Act, and others—by forcing federal agencies to hand over management but still provide the states with staff and other resources, all to implement state-directed management on federal public lands.
Sound confusing? It is. These bills reflect a very convoluted approach, and insert the states into federal, multiple-use land management. States already have cooperating agency status under the Fish and Wildlife Coordination Act, and nothing currently precludes any state from developing its own conservation plan for sage-grouse. In fact, most states have plans developed that will complement federal land management. Sportsmen should continue to review these bills and determine what inconsistencies, gaps, and challenges they might enact. At this point, there is too much uncertainty in the proposed legislation to draw ironclad conclusions about intended and unintended consequences, but one thing is clear: Anyone who has a stake in the epic collaborative process of restoring an entire sagebrush ecosystem in the Western states should be wary of what this legislation could do. |
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