San Miguel County Commissioner Art Goodtimes was unequivocal about the dire situation faced by the Gunnison sage grouse in his recent interview with Colorado Matters on KCFR.  He reminded listeners that the Gunnison sage grouse has been declining for the last fifty years and that it now occupies only a tiny percentage of its historic range.  He stated without hesitation that the current Bureau of Land Management regulations supposed to protect the bird from oil and gas drilling are "not strong enough," and that without protection under the Endangered Species Act, "we could lose the bird."

Commissioner Goodtimes also made reference to several related problems we have been working on recently.  When asked point blank what San Miguel County wants out of their lawsuit against the Fish and Wildlife Service, he said "we want to go back to good science," a reference to the Service's ignoring the recent work of experts like Dr. Clait Braun and Dr. Jessica Young that clearly points to sage grouse declines and the need for more protection from disturbance by oil and gas drilling.  Having to ask the Service and the Bush Administration to respect the role of good science sounds depressingly familiar in the wake of the recent decision to revoke protection for Graham's penstemon and the ongoing attempts to roll back protection for the Preble's meadow jumping mouse.  Commissioner Goodtimes also said that San Miguel County wants "the Federal government to be a good partner with local governments and local landowners" in protecting habitat for the Gunnison sage grouse.  This is exactly what we hope to acheive through our work in partnership with Rocky Mountain Farmers Union and American Farmland Trust to improve the federal programs to help private landowners conserve endangered species on their land.  Our Colorado Field Coordinator, Brian Hires, has been meeting with farmers and ranchers all over the state to come up with ways to do this.  Finally, Commissioner Goodtimes even made a reference to the interference in the Gunnison sage grouse listing decision by political appointee Julie MacDonald, a story we helped to break in November last year.

Commissioner Goodtimes's interview was followed by a discussion with Colorado Division of Wildlife biologist Gary Skiba about the voluntary conservation agreements that CDOW is pursuing with private landowners in Gunnison sage grouse territory.  Gary explained what these Candidate Conservation Agreements with Assurances are and how they work, emphasizing why they can be effective in protecting habitat for the bird when done right.  In doing so, Gary noted that there is a lot of common concern for the status of the grouse because "these [landowners] don't want to see the grouse go away any more than we do."  Along the way, Gary also made several statements that emphasize the importance of Endangered Species Act protection and reinforce why our lawsuit with San Miguel County is so necessary.  Gary acknowledged that "there are some cases where it is clear that a species needs Endangered Species Act protection" and that, in the case of the Gunnison sage grouse, "there is a very real possibility of future listing" despite the Services bad decision recently.  It is always refreshing to hear state wildlife agency officials and local government officials recognizing and embracing the value and importance of the Endangered Species Act, one of our country's legacy environmental laws and one of the strongest tools we have for preventing the extinction of our most imperiled native species.  You can listen to the full Colorado Matters story on the web at the KCFR website.  Incidentally, this is the second time in recent months that Colorado Matters has addressed the issue of Gunnison sage grouse protection; our senior staff biologist Erin Robertson was recently interviewed as well.