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Today, during a House Natural Resources Committee hearing on the Endangered Species Act (ESA) decision-making process, Congressman Scott Tipton (R-CO) shined light on numerous concerns with the proposed ESA listing of the sage grouse.

Tipton questioned Megan Maxwell, a biologist from Broomfield, Colorado, on the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Technical Team Report (NTT) which makes recommendations for stringent sage grouse habitat protections on millions of square miles in parts of Colorado and ten other Western states. Maxwell told Tipton and the Committee of numerous problems with the NTT report, including the one-size-fits-all approach to preserve the grouse, which fails to take into account diverse regional ecological factors vital to successfully preserve the species, or take into account the local efforts already underway.

Watch video of Tipton’s Q&A during the hearing.

“The NTT Report provides habitat management recommendations for sage-grouse across its entire range including specific habitat prescriptions or goals which would apply to all sage-grouse seasonal habitats. Although this “one-size-fits-all” management approach may be convenient for BLM to administer, it is completely inappropriate for sage-grouse because of their broad ecological range, variations in population traits and characteristics across their range, and the variability in habitat conditions and threats within the range. These variations make managing sage-grouse and their habitat a complex task that must consider site-specific conditions and variables. Simplifying sage-grouse management by creating range-wide habitat prescriptions or percent disturbance thresholds fails to target the specific sub-regional and population scale factors, as well as seasonal habitat preferences,” testified Maxwell. “The simplistic “one-size-fits-all” approach advanced in the NTT Report completely fails to recognize this variation and complexity which is a critical flaw. Consequently, the habitat management recommendations in the NTT Report will likely fail to protect sage-grouse and sage-grouse habitat range-wide and could even result in unintended adverse consequences, like increased risk of catastrophic fire and habitat destruction in areas already under extreme threat of wildfire.”

Read Maxwell’s full testimony here.

“If the goal is truly species preservation, it would make sense for the Interior Department to work with state and local officials to maximize the impact of effective efforts already underway. However, that’s not the case,” Tipton said. “As we heard today, the Administration is disregarding efforts underway in my district that take into account the diverse topography and ecology of the regions to preserve the grouse, and instead is pushing for a one-size-fits-all approach. Furthermore, despite numerous requests, administration officials have yet to provide measurable preservation goals for the species to give state and local officials in Colorado the chance to meet them.”

Tipton questioned Maxwell about the BLM’s blanket approach to preserve the grouse that fails to take into account regional factors and threatens multiple use development critical to local economies for eleven different Western States, including Colorado, on over 40 million acres of land.  

“The conservation measures and the one-size-fits-all approach they’re taking is what’s going to really be damaging,” said Maxwell.

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