Interior Dept. to review sage grouse policy, reviving fight with environmentalists

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke late Wednesday ordered his department to begin a comprehensive review of federal policies protecting the greater sage grouse — and reignited a battle with western conservationists and environmental groups in the process.

The 60-day study will revisit the Obama administration’s policy, enacted in September 2015, that stopped short of listing the bird on the endangered species list, a drastic step would have shut down the sage grouse’s western habitat to ranching and energy exploration.

The current policy allows such activities in the bird’s habitat but establishes protections to ensure the sage grouse, which has dropped in population from the millions to between 200,000 and 500,000, does not become extinct.

The Obama-era directive established strict limits on what could take place on sage grouse habitat, a policy officials praised at the time as a compromise between doing nothing and the bird’s inclusion under the Endangered Species Act.

But Mr. Zinke suggested in his announcement that current federal rules are too restrictive, and that there could be less heavy-handed ways for the government to ensure the sage grouse is protected.

“While the federal government has a responsibility under the Endangered Species Act to responsibly manage wildlife, but destroying local communities and levying onerous regulations on the public lands that they rely on is no way to be a good neighbor,” Mr. Zinke said in a statement.

“State agencies are at the forefront of efforts to maintain healthy fish and wildlife populations, and we need to make sure they are being heard on this issue,” he continued. “As we move forward with implementation of our strategy for sage-grouse conservation, we want to make sure that we do so first and foremost in consultation with state and local governments, and in a manner that allows both wildlife and local economies to thrive. There are a lot of innovative ideas out there. I don’t want to take anything off the table when we talk about a plan.”

Environmentalists quickly pushed back at the review process and said the administration is merely laying the groundwork for unchecked energy development across sage grouse habitat. The habitat includes tens of millions of acres of federal land and stretches across 11 states.

“Secretary Zinke’s review threatens to unravel unprecedented collaborative efforts by states across the west to proactively save the sage grouse. The Trump administration’s clear intention to drill, mine and frack our public lands no matter the cost is once again on full display,” said Lena Moffitt, senior director of the Sierra Club’s Our Wilderness Campaign.

“Sage grouse are an iconic western bird and important indicators of the overall health of the outdoors,” she added. “And their current conservation plan is an example of communities working together for a better future. Undermining that work to push the interests of the dirty fuels industry would be selfish and foolhardy.”