owyhee avalanche

Feds: Plight of other species trumps sage-grouse listing at this time

Although conditions warrant listing the greater sage-grouse on the Endangered Species List, federal authorities precluded the western bird from that fate Friday, saying other species are in far more dire straits and deserve priority attention.
In making the announcement with other federal officials during a national teleconference, Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said conservation efforts will remain under state control and progress will be monitored by the feds.
The majority of the sage-grouse's critical habitat lies on public lands, including Owyhee County grazing allotments administered by the Bureau of Land Management.
Grazing was not addressed at length during the 30-minute teleconference, and neither was the possibility of environmental groups such as Western Watersheds Project taking action against the latest ruling.
Friday's ruling, which was delayed one week because of the sudden death of U.S. Fish and Wildlife director Sam Hamilton, culminates a new study of sage-grouse habitat conditions triggered after a 2007 ruling by U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill granted environmentalists' request for a re-examination of the USFW's original decision not to list the sage-grouse.
For more information, read next week's edition of The Owyhee Avalanche.

-JPB