Vilsack unveils $211 million sage grouse plan

WASHINGTON — Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday announced a four-year plan to invest about $211 million to conserve habitat for the greater sage grouse.

The new plan will provide additional assistance to ranchers making improvements to their land in 11 western states, including, California, Colorado, Nevada and Oregon.

The announcement comes as the September deadline approaches for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether to place the greater sage grouse on the endangered species list.

Environmental groups support the listing, while many western political and business leaders fear that the restrictions created by such a listing would damage the economy.

Vilsack’s dubbed the new effort “Sage Grouse Initiative 2.0” and said it would build on successful federal, state and local conservation efforts since 2010 to improve sage grouse habitat.

Between 2010 and 2014, the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service has spent $296.5 million to conserve 44.4 million acres under the original Sage Grouse Initiative. That’s an area slightly smaller than New Jersey.

Various partners have invested another $198 million, for a total of $494.5 million.

By the end of the Sage Grouse 2.0 strategy, total investment is expected to be about $760 million with 8 million acres conserved.

The new strategy calls for the USDA to focus on reducing the threat of wildfire and the spread of invasive grasses after fires in order to restore wildlife habitat. The strategy also calls for removing encroaching conifers and protecting rangelands from exurban development and cultivation, as well as preventing collisions between sage grouse and fences.

Vilsack made the announcement in Oregon where he was meeting with conservation groups, ranchers and government officials.

Several separate bills and amendments have been introduced in Congress this year to delay the decision on endangered species status. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., authored a bill co-sponsored by Sen. Dean Heller. R-Nev. And Rep. Cresent Hardy, R-Nev., co-sponsored a bill in the House.

“Should it get listed, our rural way of life and our local economies would be devastated,” Heller said at a hearing earlier this year.

Colorado Democratic Sen. Michael Bennet lauded Vilsack’s announcement as “great news for Colorado’s producers and the many communities working hard to conserve the habitat of the sage grouse.”

“We hope that this strategy... will help lead to a decision that a listing of the greater sage grouse is unwarranted,” Bennet said.

A court order requires the Fish and Wildlife Service to announce by Sept. 30 whether the chicken-sized bird will be listed. The decision would have serious implications for oil and gas drilling, livestock grazing and other uses of federal lands throughout the region.

Its potential impact has been compared to the June 1990 listing of the northern spotted owl in the Pacific Northwest, which is blamed for decimating the timber industry.

In April, Interior Secretary Sally Jewell reversed the government’s proposed federal protection for a type of sage grouse specific to California and Nevada. The bistate, Mono Basin sage grouse was no longer at threat of extinction because of conservation efforts by ranchers and other land owners and all levels of government.

Jewell said then that the decision shows it’s possible to avoid listing the greater sage grouse.

“There’s no reason you can’t have a healthy state with a healthy economy and a healthy ecosystem. By working together, you can have it all,” Jewell said. “I think it is very possible not to list that species.

Contact Bill Theobald atwtheobal@gannett.com or follow on Twitter @BillTheobald