“Spotted Owl Of The Range” Threatens To Block Obama’s Nominee To Lead Interior Dept.

The Colorado Observer. ^ | March 22, 2013 | Audrey Hudson

[george76]

Sally Jewell on Thursday breezed through a committee vote to lead the Interior Department but the agency’s proposal to list the sage grouse as an endangered species threatens to block her nomination from reaching the full Senate.

...

some Republican lawmakers were not satisfied with Jewell’s responses to written and oral questions about her past association with the National Park Association’s lawsuits against the government and future plans to list the sage grouse as an endangered species.

Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) threatened to put a hold on Jewell’s nomination before it goes to a floor vote unless the agency commits to using science, instead of the fear of a lawsuit, in making a final determination on the sage grouse listing.

“Those who are anxious to get grazing off of public land have used the sage grouse as a tool and a vehicle to do that,” Risch said. “Indeed, some have said they will make the sage grouse the spotted owl of the range.”

“It’s really unfortunate that it takes a nomination like this in this type of a process in order to get urgency out of a federal agency. As we all know, urgency is not the hallmark of the federal government,” Risch said.

The proposal to list the grouse as endangered is part of a lawsuit settlement the Obama administration struck with environmental groups.

Western lawmakers are warning that the action would have devastating effects, particularly in Colorado where millions of acres would be blocked from producing oil, gas and for other uses.

Sen. Dean Heller (R-Nev.) said the Interior Department and local officials need to sit back down at the negotiating table to find a compromise “before a bird like that gets listed.”

[george76]

the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service published in the Federal Register a proposed rule to list the Gunnison sage-grouse as endangered, and a proposed rule to designate approximately 1.7 million acres of critical habitat for Gunnison sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 ...

This includes grabbing private lands from ranchers and family farms, not just preventing grazing allotments on public lands.

[Domandred]

There’s still sage grouse hunting in Idaho. Don’t believe for a minute that these birds are “endangered”

[george76]

The communists, eco-facists, and fed are using this fake sage grouse issue to grab private property and stop domestic energy production ...

[Ruy Dias de Bivar]

***Don’t believe for a minute that these birds are “endangered”****

Kind of like the attempt a few years back to list the Prairie Dog as an endangered species.

[Titus-Maximus]

Bingo!

[TigersEye]

You know, I don't think that woman
has a lick o' sense. If'n I was a sage grouse
I'd be more worried about chicken hawks
than I would some cow eatin' grass.

[tumblindice]

You know, with ‘Grouse Helper’ sage grouse tastes like prairie chicken.

[dsrtsage]

Last year, I drove from Deeth, NV to Jarbidge. Over the years (everywhere in NV), but especially in that area especially between that road and the Mary’s River, I have seen ridiculous quantities of sage chickens. On this drive, it started at dusk, and I literally, no exaggeration, ran over more than 30 sage chickens. I did not do it on purpose, the damn things were unavoidable, and I will not roll a vehicle to miss a bird. So if I can hit 30 sage chickens on a 20 foot wide 50 mile stretch of road before it started ascending into mountains (and I saw and didn’t hit way more than that), I fail to see how they are endangered.

[TigersEye]

I’m going to follow you home with a net on my bumper. ;^)

[fella]

Getting grazing off of public lands could have other unforeseen consequences. A little long but shows that grasslands need grazing in order to be healthy.

[ModelBreaker]

Until you ran ‘em over, they weren’t endangered. But those were the last twenty.

[Condor51]

Mmm... Sage Grouse

[spokeshave]

Western lawmakers are warning that the action would have devastating effects, particularly in Colorado where millions of acres would be blocked from producing oil, gas and for other uses.

Hey Colorado.....how does sucking up to the dims over gun registration / confiscation sound now....

.......those that sup with the devil need a long spoon....

and your spoon just melted.

[Domandred]

Don’t remember the Prairie Dog but I do know California tried to list the Rattlesnake back in the 90’s I think it was.

[spokeshave]

ran over more than 30 sage chickens

So did you back up and scoop some up.....

how did they taste?

I guess like spotted owl.

Share your recipie.

[Flycatcher]

It's starting. First with the Gunnison sage-grouse, which is actually just an isolated race of the greater sage-grouse but received its own "species hood" several years ago. What is the difference, you ask? Well, the Gunnison bird is slightly smaller, has a slightly different voice, and has larger filoplumes than the Greater. That's about it. But it is an isolated population of sage-grouse found only in central Colorado and parts of eastern Utah.

As bad as it was to attempt to list this bird, the listing of the Greater sage-grouse will be DEVASTATING! Its range is huge, and in some places, localized. Which basically means that virtually ALL of the Interior West could be closed for any sort of development, grazing, recreation, etc.

This is war, and the Eastern Leftists know it.

Every Westerner should rise up and fight this tyrannical power grab. If enough voices are heard, we could win this one.

Let me take that back: We HAVE TO win this one.

Thanks for the ping, George!

[Flycatcher]

Big story going on in the West for your outdoor ping list, if you’re interested.

[csmusaret]

I thought Obama was going to name Punxsutawney Phil Secretary of the Interior. Oh well, maybe I was thinking of Global Warming Czar.

[PIF]

It does not matter as far as the ESA is concerned how many of a species exist, but hows many are in the given area they define.

With Bald Eagles, for example, if there are hundreds or thousands living in your state or anywhere else, but you have one nesting eagle in a tree on your property, they are free to define your property as a site where the eagles are endangered and all ESA rules apply.

Same holds true for range land ... they just need to define an area, find a species for which the counts are as plausibly low as they can claim and declare ESA rules. Simple. And the public is snookered once again

As they have been snookered for the past 40 years this has been going on, since the Great Hero of the Right Nixon founded the EPA and signed the ESA into existence.