The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Commissioners agree reading document before commenting is prudent
By Toni M. Todd
The US Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has released its draft proposal for how the agency will manage Gunnison sage grouse habitat in light of the bird’s 2014 designation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as a threatened species. The plan, released last Thursday, is approximately 1,000 pages long.
“It’s going to take some time for all the counties involved to read, analyze and question the proposals,” said Gunnison County commissioner Jonathan Houck.
Environmentalists were quick to condemn the plan as weak, while energy industry representatives said it’s too restrictive. Houck suggested it’s impossible for those weighing in already to have thoroughly read the document.
“It weighs 2.2 pounds,” said county attorney David Baumgarten.
“Is that single- or double-sided print?” asked Houck.
“We’ll be able to comment on it 60 days from now,” said Baumgarten.
“I expect we’ll also formally request an extension on the comment period,” added Houck. He described the timeline for public hearings and comment outlined by the BLM as “tight.”
In 2013, all indications were that U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service would list the Gunnison sage grouse as an endangered species. Instead, in November of 2014, the bird was listed as threatened. Both designations garner strong protection under the 1973 Endangered Species Act.
According to the USFWS, threatened status provides federal protection before a species reaches the brink of extinction; in the case of species that were initially listed as endangered, threatened status allows scaling back federal protection as they recover and no longer need the maximum protection of the act.
Typically, an Environmental Impact Study (EIS) is conducted before a species is listed; in the case of the Gunnison sage grouse, the listing came first. Complicating this reversal of order are two pending lawsuits directed at the USFWS, one brought by the state of Colorado and another by environmental groups. The first contends the listing is too onerous and threatens agriculture and oil and gas production in southwest Colorado; the latter contends the listing doesn’t go far enough to protect the bird.
Baumgarten said court rulings from either of these suits, and the timing of those rulings, could impact the EIS or the listing. Meanwhile, the BLM, complying with the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA), is moving forward with its mandate to present a land management plan and present it to the public for comment.
The USFWS is the government agency responsible for enforcing the Endangered Species Act. It also sets the parameters for species recovery, making clear the numbers they’re looking for in determining levels of species recovery and removal from either the threatened or the endangered list.
The BLM, by contrast, is charged with managing the lands where the species lives, with an eye toward those parameters. Baumgarten said the BLM’s ultimate plan in support of the USFWS directives will likely avoid mention of specific numbers or population objectives. “What I’m expecting is something that’s like a narrative. ‘Stay so far away from leks,’ and so forth,” he said.
The draft considers four potential management alternatives. These range from the status quo, that is, leaving management of the bird’s habitat as-is, to creating a range-wide management approach that focuses on conservation, habitat and recovery of the species.
The BLM’s so-called “preferred alternative” lands somewhere in the middle, a proposal that balances protection of the bird with resource uses.
“We have been working with our cooperating agencies to incorporate local expertise and information,” said Ruth Welch, BLM Colorado state director. “Public input in reviewing this draft is the next step.”
Local public meetings to discuss the draft plan will be held mid-October in Gunnison, Delta and Dove Creek.
The “Gunnison Sage-Grouse Range-wide Draft Resource Management Plan Amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement” is now open for public comment, for a 90-day period, which began Friday, August 12.
A PDF of the plan can be viewed or downloaded from the BLM’s website: https://eplanning.blm.gov/epl-front-office/projects/lup/39681/78597/89605/2016-0811_GUSG_Draft_RMP_Amendment_ePlanning.pdf
