Posted on 08/02/2013 10:21:16 AM PDT by george76
Colorado property owners affected by a federal proposal to list the sage grouse as an endangered species should be compensated for the loss of their ability to earn a living from the land, Rep. Scott Tipton..
The Colorado Republican asked Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe at a House hearing if the federal government planned to compensate those who would no longer be able to raise crops or cattle on property claimed for the bird’s critical habitat.
“No,” Ashe replied sharply.
The proposed map of the listing and bird’s wide-ranging territory over two million acres of Colorado and parts of Utah would put public and private lands off limits to most use or development including crops and livestock grazing, if it is given protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
...
the law being implemented by the Interior Department agency is actually part of a “mega settlement” from lawsuits filed by environmentalists to list nearly 780 species as endangered by 2016, a settlement that .. finalized behind closed doors and with the use of questionable data.
The House Resources Committee hearing was called to examine the transparency of the science of those decisions and how it will affect humans, particularly those who own or use the land.
...
ESA-related actions—through executive orders, court settlements with litigious groups, and rules to list species—instead force regulatory actions that shut out Congress, states, local communities, private landowners—even scientists who may dispute the often sketchy or unverifiable data used for these decisions
...
The hearing comes on the heels of a new inspector general report of scientific misconduct at the Fish and Wildlife Service that also revealed whistleblowers were punished for exposing the wrongdoing.
(Excerpt) Read more at thecoloradoobserver.com ...
"Look at the grouse!" - Curley Howard
If the sage grouse is endagered, somebody ought to tell Colorado DOW. They are managing it as a game bird with hunting seasons and everything.
http://wildlife.state.co.us/SiteCollectionDocuments/DOW/RulesRegs/Brochure/smallgame.pdf
Clearly the people paid to actually monitor the population don’t think there is a problem.
The wonders of centralized planning.
A sage grouse?
How wise can a bird be, anyway?
The feds want to steal private property from ranchers and farmers thru these ESA , Sierra Club .. * sue and settle * schemes that do not require public hearings.
Colorado Ping ( Let me know if you wish to be added or removed from the list.)
insane................
This will give property owners plenty to ‘grouse’ about.
I read the article but no mention of which sage-grouse. There are two species: The Greater, which is found all over the Great Basin and neighboring areas, and the Gunnison, which is endemic to Colorado. So if the environazis want to steal land for the Gunnison, why is Utah involved too?
And if this is about the Greater, then why aren't all the other western states in on the suit?
This makes no sense. It's arbitrary and without scientific backing. I would call it downright criminal, but that's always been the modus operandi of the Marxist environmentalist Left.
Thanks for the ping, George!
the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has agreed to take another half-year to decide whether the Gunnison sage-grouse should be declared endangered.
its proposal to protect the bird under the Endangered Species Act and designate more than 1.7 million acres of critical habitat in western Colorado and eastern Utah
http://sagebrushcoalition.com/2013/07/19/usfws-delays-gunnison-sage-grouse-listing-decision/
Also The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is looking to close 2-million acres of Public forests to alledgedly protect a toad and frog habitat. .. parts of nine forests.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-news/3034474/posts
It is arbitrary and without scientific backing.
why aren’t all the other western states in on the suit?
Death by a thousand cuts / lawsuits settled.
Good points, Fly.
If the enviro-nazis and FWS pull this scam off which is definitely (IMO) criminal, they’ll have their foot in the door and proceed to illegally grab the rest of the lands in western states with sage grouse.
That’s one of the goals enviros, FWS and EPA are striving for, to close down public and private lands in the west to preserve them. As some say, we’re becoming the USSA.
BTW, Director Dan Ashe should be told “sharply” he’s fired.
Migratory birds are being slaughtered by wind turbines and the USF&WS is strangely silent. Hmmm!
I believe most of the CO farmers and ranchers are conservatives.
Yep, wind turbines kill millions and many of them are endangered species, nothing is done. ES birds killed in oil fields cost them big bucks in fines.
Another Federal land grab—pure & simple.
Lol.
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