Listing decision for sage grouse coming tomorrow 9/22
Listing decision for sage grouse coming tomorrow 9/22
The United States Department of the Interior plans to announce its decision on whether the greater sage grouse warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act. The drama leading up to this decision has been one of the longest and most anticipated wildlife decisions in history due to the size and scope of the sage grouse territory. A decision to list the greater sage grouse could severely limit energy development, mining, oil and gas, and other development in the west.
Interior Secretary Sally Jewell will be announcing the listing decision at noon EDT at the Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge outside of Denver Colorado. Regarding the announcement, the Interior Department said it would be making “an historic conservation announcement” to “celebrate successful collaborative conservation.” Not listing the greater sage grouse despite intense pressure from environmental groups would be the result of an unprecedented push among federal lands agencies, states, conservationists and land users to conserve habitat, as well as the implementation of conservation plans addressing the greater sage grouse.
Unfortunately, a decision not to list the sage grouse will only be the beginning of what promises to be a long and hard-fought legal battle between the federal and several state governments and a cadre of environmental groups who see the sage grouse listing as a way to prevent development and extractive resource exploration across the west.
Interior Department announcement here.
Who:
Sally Jewell, U.S. Secretary of the Interior
Robert Bonnie, Under Secretary for Natural Resources and Environment, U.S. Department of Agriculture
Dan Ashe, Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service
John Hickenlooper, Governor, State of Colorado
Matt Mead, Governor, State of Wyoming
Steve Bullock, Governor, State of Montana
Brian Sandoval, Governor, State of Nevada
Noreen Walsh, Regional Director, U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s Mountain Prairie Region
Brian Rutledge, VP & Executive Director, Audubon Rockies, The National Audubon Society
Duane Coombs, Nevada Rancher
What:
Major announcement regarding the greater sage-grouse
When:
Tuesday, September 22, 2015
9:45 a.m. MDT – Media check-in
10:00 a.m. MDT – Announcement
10:50 a.m. MDT – Media availability
Where:
Rocky Mountain Arsenal National Wildlife Refuge Visitor Center
6550 Gateway Road
Commerce City, CO 80022