Posted March 12, 2014
The Nevada Cattlemen’s Association recently urged its members to deny state Department of Wildlife employees access to private land in an effort to protest the agency’s proposals on protecting the sage grouse, according to an Associated Press article available here.
The wildlife agency “supports proposals favored by the U.S. Bureau of Land Management that would financially harm many ranchers” according to a statement by the Cattlemen’s Association.
Federal officials “are preparing a strategy to avoid the sage grouse’s listing as an endangered or threatened species,” given the economic consequences for ranching, mining and alternative energy development.
Wildlife department spokesman, Chris Healy, said that the controversy is a result of a “big misunderstanding that can be fixed by continued dialogue.”
“We have already scheduled a meeting with the board of the Nevada Cattlemen’s Association to explain our position and to remind them of our very good record of cooperation over major issues over the years,” Healy said.
Conservationists, on the other hand, are concerned that scientific opinions are being set aside. Experts say 2 million sage grouse inhabited the West around 1805, while today, their number are estimated at about 200,000.
Some urge a solution that works for the benefit of all groups, according to a USA Today article available here. The plan preferred by the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service would exclude or restrict new recreational facilities, wind and solar energy development and mineral development in sage grouse habitat.
For more information on environmental law, please visit the National Agricultural Law Center’s website here.
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