"Thank you, landowners!"
Posted on 04/03/2015 2:02:16 PM PDT by george76
Efforts to protect the greater sage grouse in its 11-state territory are multiplying, according to a report from the Western Governors’ Association released Thursday, and Northwest Colorado’s sage grouse population is seeing significant growth as a result.
The report is a comprehensive inventory of public and private conservation initiatives in 2014 throughout the bird’s range in 11 western states, including Colorado.
Northwest Colorado is home to about two thirds of the state’s greater sage grouse population, which grew by 30 percent from 2013 to 2014, according to Senior Wildlife Biologist Brad Petch with Colorado Parks and Wildlife.
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Moffat, Routt and Rio Blanco county landowners have been working towards better conservation of the bird for more than 20 years in partnership with state and local government agencies.
“Probably about 80 percent of sage grouse habitat is on private landowners’ land,” Moffat County Commissioner Chuck Grobe said. “So without private partnerships, we wouldn’t have this program going at all. We’re proving that we need to work with them.”
The greater sage grouse was deemed worthy of protection under the Endangered Species Act in 2010 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, but was left off the list due to limited resources and other higher-priority species. Due to a lawsuit, Fish and Wildlife must decide whether the bird should be listed by Sept. 30.
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In Moffat County, other conservation efforts include a conservation easement recently secured by the Colorado Cattlemen’s Agricultural Land Trust on 16,000 acres of the Cross Mountain Ranch, located near Dinosaur National Monument.
“Even if they list this bird, this is what the (Endangered Species) Act cannot do,” Swartout said. “From conservation organizations to ranchers, these partnerships are actually getting stuff done on the ground to preserve and sustain population numbers and to enhance them.”
(Excerpt) Read more at craigdailypress.com ...
"Thank you, landowners!"
They have nothing to grouse about now.
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