This past summer was not an easy one for cattle producers in the West. Drought and fires raised havoc. Ranching has always required management for disasters like fire and drought, but also day-to-day balancing acts to provide for healthy wildlife habitat. When dealing with endangered species, there are many examples of misguided regulations and rulemaking. However, due to more than a decade of hard work, including more meetings than we care to recall, we have a chance to get it right with the Greater Sage Grouse. Thanks to ranchers, sportsmen, conservationists, state and federal government officials working together at the local level, we have state plans that span across Western rangelands for the Greater Sage-Grouse.
Years of work culminated in the Bureau of Land Management and US Forest Service releasing plans in 2015 that put all major stakeholders on one path: avoid the listing of the Greater Sage-Grouse as a threatened or endangered species. These plans are not perfect, but they provided a way for the working groups to stop spending time in meetings and start putting that effort into managing habitat.
(Brett Dailey with USDA Natural Resources Under Secretary Robert Bonnie in 2015)
Recently BLM and USFS reopened a comment and review process for these hard-earned plans. There are parts of the plans that can be improved. With almost two years under our belts, we are learning how to implement the plans and what works. We know that
Fortunately, from Montana to Nevada and across the West, ranchers, rangeland scientists, conservationists, and local federal agency land managers are working daily on research and applied range management science. Solutions are readily available and many are currently being implemented. Focusing efforts on training and on-the-ground refinements will create a true success story. What can derail success would be going back to square one. Starting over will take years and will result in lawsuits and stakeholder battles. We do not need more meetings. We already know, what is good for the herd is good for the bird.
Please take a few minutes and provide comments about how and where the sage grouse plans are working, where improvements can be made, and emphasize that we do NOT need to go through an entire rule-making process again. With a bit of teamwork and cooperation, we can clarify additional policy guidance and design training for government and land managers that will let us manage for sage grouse habitat and provide healthy working landscapes.
BLM comments are due Friday, December 1. Click here to submit comments:
About the author: Brett Dailey– rancher from Jordan, Board Member of the Montana Farmers Union and Policy Committee Member of the US Cattlemen’s Association
Picture USCA
