Threatened species designation is for the birds

by Jim Keyes
USU Area Range & Livestock Scientist
In days gone by, it was the American dream to own a piece of land that you could do with whatever you wanted. It was yours, and you had property rights. What happened to those days?
On November 12, 2014 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) designated the Gunnison sage grouse as a “Threatened” species, thereby entitling the bird to special considerations for its future protection.
Basically, the USFWS has discounted the efforts of ranchers, farmers, and landowners to protect the birds. In the past decade, millions of dollar have been spent to develop areas of habitat that include new watering systems, specialized plantings, protection of nesting areas, and countless other improvements for the grouse.
Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper has threatened a lawsuit over the listing, following in the footsteps of the Oklahoma attorney general who sued over the listing of the Lesser Prairie Chicken as a threatened species.
Don Ashe, USFWS Service Director, said the decision was made using the best science available. In his announcement to government officials, Ashe did not mention the legal agreement reached between the USFWS and several environmental groups, led by Wild Earth Guardians, to hasten the listing of the bird.
Ashe declined to speculate on the future listing of the Greater Sage Grouse, which inhabits a far larger part of the West. He said people should not “project today’s decision on to what the service may or may not do on the Greater Sage Grouse.”
What about
Agriculture?
What does this type of listing mean for local agriculture?
Those landowners enrolled in the Sage Grouse Initiative with the NRCS will go about life as usual with no effects. Those who have agreed to Candidate Conservation Agreements with assurances prior to the listing of the birds will not have any future regulatory obligations in excess of those they agree to at the time they enter into the agreement. 
What about those landowners not enrolled in a program or involved in a conservation agreement?
What about those individuals who expect that in America their private property rights will be protected?
Mr. Ashe said, “The service will use its authority to exempt routine agricultural activities from restrictions.”
I am always concerned when someone from a government agency tells me there will be no restrictions.
Concerns
For almost two decades, I have been telling ranchers and farmers that if they would join in the effort to help protect the birds, everything will be okay.
Everything is not okay. The birds received a federal listing. How long before another gaggle of special interest groups sue for more oppressing regulations?
San Juan County is 93 percent owned by some form of the government. The Gunnison sage grouse has chosen the only small, contiguous sector of private property in the county to live on. Property that is crucial to the livelihoods of many families.
Not in my entire career have I seen a more resounding endeavor than the efforts put forth by these property owners to protect the Gunnison sage grouse.
There have been watering systems developed, range improvements implemented, special seedings on farmground, participation in scientific research projects, and the list goes on.
Bottom line
The thing that bothers me the most, as I listened to the phone conference in which the USFWS made the announcement of listing to state and county officials, was the conditions deliberated in the decision.
The only thing considered was the perceived status and future of the birds.
At no time was consideration given to the economic effect on the local community or the future of the human beings who also inhabit this land.
The industry that will be the most hurt is mineral extraction. Any efforts to develop gas, oil, or other natural resources will be strictly curtailed.
For a small community like Monticello with a population of less than 2,000, this is life threatening. Already our school is down 30 students and there are currently 116 homes for sale in the community.
In a public lands county like San Juan, everyone is already under the thumb of the federal government. That thumb just got heavier.