WASHINGTON, DC – Idaho’s Congressional members this week led their colleagues in a bicameral letter to House and Senate leadership urging the continued Endangered Species Act greater sage-grouse listing prohibition be maintained in a potential end-of-year spending package. They say this provision has been included in annual spending bills since Fiscal Year 2015, to the benefit of wildlife populations and Western communities.
“I have not fought this long and hard to prohibit a sage-grouse listing only for those efforts to be thwarted in a potential end-of-year spending package,” Congressman Mike Simpson says. “An ESA listing for the sage-grouse would close off thousands of acres of land across the West to recreation, grazing, and other activities and would undermine the collaborative work being done to manage sage-grouse habitats at a local level by the individuals who work, live, and recreate on Idaho’s land. Sage-grouse conservation remains a priority for Idaho and other western states, and I will continue to fight for local-decision making on this important issue.”
“Idaho and other western states with sage-grouse habitat led the development of wildlife conservation plans that were locally driven, collaborative, and scientific. But time and again, these good-faith conservation efforts have been held hostage by cyclical litigation and management changes that hurt rural communities and sage-grouse alike. The ESA listing prohibition and local conservation efforts have strengthened and preserved sage-grouse habitats since 2015, and this work should be preserved,” and Senator Jim Risch says.
The letter, also signed by Senator Mike Crapo and Congressman Russ Fulcher, notes the long-standing provision of sage-grouse listing prohibition in spending bills and the disruptive nature of continual litigation on state and local communities’ effective and collaborative sage-grouse conservation plans.
The letter says the listing prohibition has helped, not hindered, the commitment to conserving the greater sage-grouse.
“In fact, each year the listing prohibition has been in place, funding for sage-grouse conservation has continued to rise. This is due to the commitment and partnerships of federal, state, and local leaders who take ownership and responsibility in the achievement of their individual plans. In contrast, cyclical litigation diverts time and resources which could otherwise be used for real conservation efforts. Species conservation is a gradual process, and conservation plans need time to be implemented without disruption in order to show results,” the letter says.
To read the full letter and list of signers, click here.
