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Habitat Loss, New Threats Prompt Call for Federal Protection
For Immediate Release For More Information: (Laramie, WY) Twenty conservation organizations, including Laramie’s Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, submitted a petition to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service today to list the Greater Sage Grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) as “threatened” or “endangered” under the Endangered Species Act. The species has suffered declines of 45 percent to 80 percent over the past 20 years due to habitat loss and fragmentation. “The sage grouse is clearly in trouble,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist for Biodiversity Conservation Alliance. “And yet the deterioration in land stewardship on federal public lands is driving this bird even faster towards extinction. In particular, the radical increase in oil and gas drilling, paired with the failure to provide commonsense protections for the most sensitive habitats, is driving the sage grouse out of its natural strongholds.” Molvar added. The sage grouse is a striking and charismatic bird that inhabits sagebrush ecosystems in nine western states. Historically, sage grouse were abundant throughout the prairie sagebrush steppe (the “Sagebrush Sea”) covering parts of 16 western states and three Canadian provinces. However, since 1900 the distribution of sage grouse has been greatly reduced, with extirpation of populations at the periphery of their range in Arizona, British Columbia, Kansas, Nebraska, New Mexico and Oklahoma. Today, the total sage grouse population is estimated at 140,000 individuals, representing only about 8 percent of historic numbers. The sage grouse is a valuable game bird as well as an important part of America's outdoor heritage, and we must seek to reverse its decline using all the tools available. The Endangered Species Act is one of those tools. Sage grouse populations have declined in the past decades as a result of activities on public and private lands. Livestock grazing, agricultural and urban conversion, application of herbicides and pesticides, altered fire regimes, oil and gas development, mining, off-road vehicle use, and the placement and construction of utility corridors, roads and fences have fragmented, degraded and eliminated sage grouse habitat throughout its range. Sage grouse are also hunted in eight states. New threats such as increased energy development on throughout the Intermountain West, persistent drought and the West Nile encephalitis virus found in sage grouse in Montana and Wyoming threaten to reduce sage grouse populations even further. “The Bush Administration has prioritized resource extraction at the expense of conservation on public lands, and that has increased the pressure on sage grouse populations now contending with West Nile disease, drought and all the hardships associated with degraded habitat,” said Mark Salvo, Grasslands and Deserts Advocate for American Lands Alliance. As the largest manager of sagebrush habitat, the Bureau of Land Management is the key player in the recovery of sage grouse populations in the West. However, the agency’s recent draft conservation strategy is viewed by conservationists as a risky compromise with extractive industries and an abandonment of sage grouse conservation to local and state committees that often are beholden to industrial interests. Protecting and recovering sage grouse, an indicator species for the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem, and restoring sagebrush habitat would also benefit a family of other sensitive wildlife species that depend on sagebrush such as the sagebrush vole, sage sparrow, sagebrush lizard and pygmy rabbit. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION QUESTION: Sage grouse have already been petitioned for listing. Why submit another petition? ANSWER: The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service received separate petitions to list sage sage grouse from two individuals. They may not appreciate (or be capable of) the significant effort involved in protecting species—including the years of litigation that is often required. Our petition, signed by 20 local, regional, and national organizations, will ensure that the best biological and legal case is made for listing. Our petition also presents new information about threats to sage grouse since the Service received previous petitions in 2002. Complete information about Greater Sage Grouse and the petition is available at www.sagebrushsea.org/sage_grouse.htm Full List of Petitioners: American Lands Alliance
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