Wyoming Infrastructure Authority

By DUSTIN BLEIZEFFER - Star-Tribune energy reporter | Posted: Tuesday, January 5, 2010 12:00 am

Conservationists are hailing a federal plan that would limit oil and natural gas development in prime sage grouse habitat in Wyoming.

On Monday, the Bureau of Land Management in Wyoming announced it would modify its sage grouse management plan to more closely align with the state’s “core areas” approach, which severely limits new industrial activities across large areas of the state.

For example, the plan would restrict oil and natural gas development to one well pad per square mile in sage grouse habitat. Further, the state’s core areas plan requires that potential developers demonstrate how any proposed activities would not diminish grouse habitat or bird populations before the activity is permitted.

Previously, the BLM has attempted to make changes in sage grouse management retroactively.

Conservationists say it’s a long-awaited move by the BLM, and a critical step in possibly avoiding a listing of the sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act.

“This is not the kind of policy move that would necessarily stop an endangered species listing process, but it’s likely to help,” said Erik Molvar, wildlife biologist for the Biodiversity Conservation Alliance.

Reached for comment Monday, the staff of the Petroleum Association of Wyoming said it had not read enough of the BLM documents to comment on the new sage grouse management plan.

The federal government estimates as many as 16 million sage grouse inhabited the West in the early 1800s. Populations, particularly in the past 40 years, have dropped dramatically. Only an estimated 150,000 to 500,000 of the birds remain on an estimated 770,000 square miles in 11 states — roughly half of the bird’s historical range.

Wyoming’s sage grouse population is by far the largest of those 11 states; the Wyoming Game and Fish Department’s estimate is around 200,000. Statewide numbers have increased in recent years, officials say, though population declines have been documented in areas of intense energy development.

In 2008, Gov. Dave Freudenthal signed an executive order creating the sage grouse “core areas” conservation plan. It has been hailed by many as one of the best arguments against the need for an endangered or threatened species listing of the bird.

Yet the BLM, which oversees the bulk of sage grouse habitat in Wyoming, has been criticized for not strictly adhering the state’s core areas plan. BLM continued offering oil and gas lease parcels within the state’s core areas, as well as in areas considered critical winter habitat for elk.

Now that the BLM has promised to embrace Wyoming’s sage grouse policy, conservationists say they expect a major shift restricting oil and natural gas development within the core areas. But whether land managers follow through on the policy, and whether it’s enough to avoid a listing, remains to be seen.

“Under this memorandum, it’s even more questionable whether critical sage grouse habitat areas outside core areas will get protection, and if so, how much,” Molvar said.

An estimated 80 percent of the state’s sage grouse core areas are already under lease by the oil and gas industry. Some of those leases were protested and remain under review by the Wyoming BLM state director. Molvar said the BLM now has the opportunity to impose restrictions on those lease parcels.

“The BLM is, at same time, trying to do as little as possible to impede oil and gas development,” Molvar said. “As they walk that line, you have to ask, ‘Will it be enough to save and recover sage grouse populations?’”

Brian Rutledge, executive director and vice president of Audubon Wyoming, said he’s pleased with the BLM decision. However, it remains to be seen how the policy is implemented and enforced.

“We look to both industry and federal managing agencies to approach this with an enlightened and determined manner to avoid listing of this species,” Rutledge said. “For me it’s not even about the sage grouse. It’s about the sagebrush ecosystem.”

Energy reporter Dustin Bleizeffer can be reached at (307) 577-6069 or dustin.bleizeffer@trib.com. Go to http://tribtown.trib.com/DustinBleizeffer/blog to read Dustin’s energy blog.