The Crested Butte News Serving the Gunnison Valley since 1999
Gunnison sage grouse doesn’t warrant a listing
On Monday, December 22 the Gunnison Board of County Commissioners (BOCC) executed their letter of intent to join the state of Colorado in a federal lawsuit against secretary of the U.S. Department of the Interior Sally Jewel, director of U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Daniel Ashe and regional director of the FWS’s Mountain Prairie Region, Noreen Walsh.
In November 2014, the FWS listed the Gunnison sage grouse as a threatened species and designated roughly 1.4 million acres of habitat in Colorado and Utah as critical to the bird. The BOCC’s letter to the FWS states, “You are hereby notified that Gunnison County intends to bring a civil action against you, in your official capacities, and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for violating Section 4 of the Endangered Species Act (ESA). The State of Colorado’s sage grouse biologists stand in agreement with the State of Utah and county leaders in both states that the science clearly demonstrates that the Gunnison sage grouse is adequately protected by the states, local governments and private landowners, under existing conservation measures and does not warrant a listing under the ESA.”
In the letter, the BOCC also indicated that it will be happy to meet with the FWS to discuss the issues raised in the notice letter. If the FWS’s actions are not remedied within 60 days, the BOCC intends to formally file a suit in federal court. The BOCC will seek preliminary and permanent injunctive relief, declaratory relief, and attorneys’ fees and costs concerning the violations.
