Sage Grouse

[Tero]

Fox News is running a story. West, cows, liberal conservationists. The usual. Someone can link the story, my phone is crap right now. I have the wiki entry to post later.

[Tero]

Lets see if paste works:
Conservation status[edit]
Populations of sage grouse are in decline due to environment loss and decline of the pristine plains environments it requires to mate. The sage grouse is found in significant numbers within only half of the states comprising its original territories. The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and other organizations have petitioned to list the grouse under the Endangered Species Act.
In March 2010 the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) concluded that greater sage-grouse are warranted for protection as "threatened" under the U.S. federal Endangered Species Act (ESA). However the USFWS also concluded that immediate listing was "precluded" by higher listing priorities for other jeopardized species. Thus they designated the species a "Level 8 Candidate" for addition to the list of threatened species at some future date. Their finding is being litigated by groups contending the species should immediately receive protections under the ESA.
The Agricultural Research Service (ARS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) investigated some of the reasons for the declining sage-grouse population. Researchers observed cattle who share grazing land with the sage-grouse. They found that cattle, after consuming about 40% of the tussocks in between sagebrush bushes, will continue to consume the tussocks growing underneath the sagebrush, thereby destroying the nesting habitat for the sage-grouse.[1] In order to preserve the population of sage-grouse, ranchers can monitor the rate at which cattle consume the tussocks in between sagebrush bushes. Once cattle have consumed around 40% of the tussocks in between bushes, researchers ask that ranchers move their cattle to new grazin tail.

[mistermack]

Head em up.

Move em on.

[Xamonas Chegwé]

Can't really serve grouse without sage butter, can you.

[Tero]

Drill baby drill

Still, states in the region are extremely concerned about the economic impact of a federal listing.

"In Wyoming, the sage grouse territory is about 80 percent of the state," said Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead, whose state is the biggest energy exporter in the country.

The governor argues that an endangered species would hurt the entire country. "We're not going to survive if we don't have energy and we don't have food and we don't have the ability for municipalities to grow and prosper."

Molvar and others contend that energy development is a key reason the grouse numbers have declined in Wyoming, Montana and Colorado. "This heavy amount of drilling activity and the industrial incursions into these sage grouse habitats fragment the habitat into smaller and smaller patches and cause disturbance that drive the sage grouse out," Molvar said.

Pat Deibert, the national sage grouse conservation coordinator with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, said “previous determinations have found that energy development is a significant negative factor for the sage grouse."

But Mead notes that fossil fuel production would not be the only type of energy affected, and that wind farms and solar power installations could also face “conflicts.”

For Sgamma, the issue evokes memories of a past fight, over the spotted owl, whose listing "wiped out" timber communities. Yet the range of the spotted owl is small compared with that of the greater sage grouse, whose territory totals 165 million acres, a combined land area almost the size of Texas.

States like Wyoming are working hard to save the greater sage grouse on their own. "I think we've spent ourselves about 35 million dollars trying to get in a position so the bird is not listed,” Mead said. Wyoming's plan prohibits human activity for more than a half-mile around the grouse's annual mating and nesting areas.

Molvar, though, says the plan doesn't do enough and believes an endangered species listing must happen to save the bird.

While Deibert applauds Wyoming for being proactive in trying to conserve the bird, she cautions that its effort alone will not be enough to keep the bird from being listed. "Our decision is going to be made based on the range-wide analysis of the greater sage grouse, not just the sage grouse in the state of Wyoming. We have to look at the 10 remaining states as well as our Canadian provinces to see what the conservation actions have been."

http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2014/11 ... new-rules/

[pErvinalia]

Sage is grouse, man!

[laklak]

Quit grousing about it, you lot.

[Seth]

You want to protect grouse on private land, then you pony-up and fucking BUY IT and make it public land.

The ESA is a blatant violation of the 4th Amendment of the Constitution. "Nor shall private property be taken for public use without just compensation..."

Fucking grouse don't even belong to the feds, they belong to the state. Let the state handle it as it has been doing.

[Tero]

Endangered species belong to the gubment.

[pErvinalia]

Libertarians are an endangered species..

[Tero]

Seth, you can be fined $50 000, federal fine, for "taking" endangered species on your own property. Therefore, you and your state do not own them.

[laklak]

Only if they catch you.

[Seth]

Endangered species belong to the gubment.

No they don't. The feds merely control "takings" of protected species, but the game belongs to the states.

[Seth]

Seth, you can be fined $50 000, federal fine, for "taking" endangered species on your own property. Therefore, you and your state do not own them.

Wrong. The fine is for violating the federal proscription on taking endangered species. It has nothing to do with the ownership of the animal, which belongs to the several states. This has been long established in law, which is why, for example, Montana and Wyoming can have wolf hunting seasons now that the wolf is no longer an endangered species.

If the federal government took title to the species it would have plenary control over hunting, which it does not. The states do.

[Seth]

Only if they catch you.

The downfall of most violators is forgetting the third "S" in "Shoot, Shovel and Shut Up."

And then there's the windmill industry, which is fighting to keep secret the number of birds their windmills kill, including federally-protected eagles.

I was thinking that a circular band around the tips of the rotors might create a visual barrier that would keep birds from flying through the swept area of the blades. It needn't be very large or even stiff. Fabric might work because centrifugal force would spin it outwards.