The Gunnison sage-grouse will be listed as a threatened species, a notch lower than the endangered category its defenders wanted, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said Wednesday.
The likelihood of extinction is not imminent because of the cooperative efforts among counties, agencies and private landowners, so threatened is appropriate, agency director Dan Ashe said in a telephone conference with the news media.
Threatened status allows more flexibility in managing the species, which number about 4,700, Ashe said.
The listing under the Endangered Species Act will have no impact on agricultural interests who previously reached conservation agreements, as long as guidelines are followed, Ashe said.
The Gunnison sage-grouse is found only in Southwest Colorado and Southeast Utah, with the main body in the Gunnison basin. But a half-dozen satellite populations exist, with bands that range from 16 to 200 birds.
Gov. John Hickenlooper and U.S. Sens. Mark Udall and Michael Bennet called the “threatened” designation disappointing. The governor said he’ll sue to stop the listing. They cited the years of effort by a coalition of grouse advocates to preserve the Gunnison sage-grouse and its habitat.
“The rug was pulled out from under them,” Bennet said.
“Colorado’s ranchers, conservationists and state and local leaders have worked tirelessly for more than 20 years to protect the sage-grouse. I will continue to champion this collaborative effort, including a request to delay this decision,” Udall said.
Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, didn’t use the word “disappoint,” but said the Fish and Wildlife Service “in true Washington-knows-best fashion” ignored scientists in favor of bureaucrats.
“This is not a political issue, but an occasion where people from diverse backgrounds and all sides have worked together to put into place local plans to preserve the species based on scientific data – and they’re working.”
Megan Mueller, a conservation biologist with Rocky Mountain Wild, said threats remain to the sage-grouse, particularly the small satellite populations.
She mentioned gas and oil drilling, road use, noise and the reconstruction of a power line.
In one of the satellite bands, no young sage-grouse survived to adulthood, Mueller said.
“The sage-grouse can’t stand more impacts,” Mueller said. “One bad winter or a disease and they’re gone.”
daler@durangoherald.com
