Wind Energy Proponents Grouse Over Grouse Conservation

It's another conservation battle gone to the birds. Wyoming's blocking of wind energy studies, development and turbines within core habitat areas of the sage grouse is ruffling feathers among wind development proponents. Wyoming Gov. Dave Freudenthal's moves to protect the sage grouse have been designed to help the state dodge more restrictive rules that would come along with an Endangered Species Act listing. The sage grouse in the United States is currently listed as a candidate for endangered species status.

Studies have found that sage grouse abandon breeding areas near oil drilling areas and tall structures where predators are likely to perch. Regulators seeking to minimize disruption to the birds have required that drilling rigs be at least one kilometer from known breeding areas — and since wind turbines are even taller, larger buffer zones may be required. The Biodiversity Conservation Alliance and a coalition of conservation groups recently recommended a five-mile buffer for wind developments, the same standard the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has been recommending since 2003.

Wyoming's  Freudenthal sniped at environmentalists after receiving a state sage grouse policy team recommendation on the same day that some environmental groups filed a federal lawsuit over the bird’s status. “They’re suing while we’re doing the work,” Freudenthal said. “We’re doing what they should be doing — conserving — but they’d rather litigate than fix anything.” The Western Watersheds Project of Idaho, the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians filed suit late last month against the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, claiming delays in handling the grouse's endangered status are a violation of the Endangered Species Act.

Yet in nearby Utah, million-dollar, multipronged conservation efforts have kept sage grouse numbers high enough to sustain hunting. (Umm, hooray? I guess for now, it's a point in their favor that there are enough grouses to allow for hunting. Why we'd want to engage in million-dollar, multipronged efforts, however, so that we can then turn around and shoot the birds ... I suppose that's an issue for another day.)  State officials say the efforts have been so successful that other states are eyeing its results to help guide similar programs. And this spring, the U.S. Department of Interior and Department of Agriculture announced a joint conservation effort among 11 states, extending millions of dollars to livestock producers and others willing to participate in grouse conversation efforts.

Meanwhile, wind energy proponents continue to grouse that nobody is listening to their side of the story. Some states have commissioned studies to find out what the potential dangers of wind turbines to the sage grouse might be, but others seem to be taking more general recommendations at face value. Could Utah's successes work in other states? How much of a buffer area gives the grouse the space they need? Would endangered species status help or hamstring individual state efforts to blend conservation with a desire for wind development and local economic needs? Until the various factions get on the same page, I'm not sure the grouse will see much action other than more grousing for some time to come.

Photo credit: Terry Spivey, USDA Forest Service, Bugwood.org