WildEarth Guardians petitioned for protection
for butterflies, beetles, a springsnail, a fish and a flower that live in
the Sagebrush Sea.
A western Colorado county and conservation
organizations have agreed to settle a lawsuit against the U.S. Fish and
Wildlife Service challenging its April 2006 negative listing decision for
Gunnison sage-grouse. The agency will prepare a new listing decision for
the species by June 30, 2010.
The U.S. Geological Survey has
posted 24 chapters of a new, definitive monograph that documents declining
populations and major threats to sage-grouse and their habitat.
The Fish and Wildlife Service has filed a notice
in federal court stating that, in light of the latest investigation of the
Bush Administration's misapplication of the Endangered Species Act, the
agency will reconsider its decision to deny protection to the Gunnison sage-grouse.
WildEarth Guardians notes the release of
The State of the Birds 2009, a report that describes the rapid decline
of bird species in the U.S. and identifies grasslands and deserts as among
the most degraded bird habitats in the country.
The Fish
and Wildlife Service has filed a notice with the U.S. District Court in
Washington, DC stating that, in light of the latest investigative report
on Bush Administration interference in the administration of the ESA, the
agency may reconsider its position in current litigation over its refusal
to protect Gunnison sage-grouse under the ESA in April 2006.
The grazing
fee for 2009 will be $1.35/AUM, the minimum fee allowed under current law
and third year in a row that the fee has been so low.
Fish and
Wildlife officials declare that the greater sage-grouse probably does not
warrant listing under the ESA, contrary to the agency's new and unusual
interim update on the species.
The Gunnison
sage-grouse is among the top ten species most in need of protection under
the Endangered Species Act, according to a report by the Endangered Species
Coalition.
A Bush
Administration official has indicated that the Department of Interior may
recommend against protecting greater sage-grouse under the ESA for the second
time in three years.
WildEarth
Guardians and Western Watersheds Project sued the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service for rejecting a petition to protect Columbian sharp-tailed grouse
under the Endangered Species Act.
Nevada Governor Jim Gibbons issued an Executive
Order "Declaring State Policy to Preserve and Protect Greater Sage-Grouse
Habitat.” WildEarth Guardians sent a letter to the Governor with ten
recommendations to bolster sage-grouse populations in Nevada pursuant to
his new order.
WildEarth Guardians' Sagebrush Sea Campaign
released a report describing extensive habitat loss and degradation in the
Sagebrush Sea from livestock grazing, oil and gas development, cheatgrass
incursion and other factors.
The Sagebrush Sea Campaign has merged with
a new organization, WildEarth Guardians!
The New York Times, Oregonian
and Baker City Herald have commented on the Bush Administration's
flawed decisionmaking process for greater sage-grouse.
A federal court reversed and remanded the Fish
and Wildlife Service's 12-month "not warranted" listing decision
issued in 2005.
A U.S Fish and Wildlife Service memorandum
provides new evidence that former Deputy Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald,
and the Fish and Wildlife Service Washington and Regional offices frustrated
and prevented agency biologists from recommending that the Service list
Gunnison sage-grouse as "endangered" or "threatened"
under the ESA.
Conservation organizations filed a lawsuit
against the Fish and Wildlife Service in federal court today challenging
the agency's refusal to consider listing the Mono Basin area sage grouse
under the ESA.
BLM defers leasing on tens of thousands of
acres to protect sensitive habitat, potential protected areas.
As the House
Natural Resources Committee holds a hearing today to investigate the manipulation
of science in endangered species management, conservation groups urged the
Department of the Interior to immediately revisit many recent politically
tainted decisions by the Fish and Wildlife Service to deny protection to
imperiled wildlife under the ESA. Documents received by the Sagebrush Sea
Campaign indicate that political appointtees manipulated listing decisions
for both the greater and Gunnison
sage-grouse in recent years.
Deputy
Assistant Secretary Julie MacDonald resigned from her position at the Department
of the Interior. Her
resignation comes just eight days before a Congressional oversight committee
hearing on political interference by Bush Administration officials in scientific
decisionmaking. Documents received by the Sagebrush Sea Campaign indicate
that MacDonald manipulated listing decisions for both the greater
sage-grouse and Gunnison
sage-grouse in recent years.
An investigation by the
DOI Inspector General has confirmed media accounts and evidence in the public
record that politcal appointee Julie MacDonald "has been heavily involved
with editing, commenting on, and reshaping … scientific reports"
used by the Fish and Wildlife Service in Endangered Species Act listing
decisions.
The American Bird Conservancy has ranked sagebrush third among
the twenty most threatened bird habitats in the United States. The ABC report
identifies livestock grazing, invasive species and fire as continuing threats
to sagebrush steppe.
San Miguel County (CO) and citizen organizations filed a lawsuit today in
federal court challenging the failure of the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
to protect the Gunnison sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act.
The U.S. Geological Survey National Wildlife Health Center has reported
that West Nile virus continued to spread into previously uninfected populations
of greater sage-grouse across the West in 2006.
Documents received from the Fish and Wildlife Service reveal that Bush Administration
officials reversed the agency's recommendation to list Gunnison sage-grouse
as "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act.
A coalition of conservation organizations is seeking the adoption of science-based
sage grouse conservation measures to increase sage grouse populations and
range, and avoid a new Endangered Species listing petition.