President Joe Biden's administration on Friday proposed tightening restrictions on oil, solar and wind energy development on more than 6,500 square miles of federal land in the western United States to protect dwindling bird species.
But it is questionable whether that change will last under President-elect Donald Trump.
Biden administration considers new measures to protect birds
The sage-grouse, a chicken-sized bird known for its elaborate mating ritual, was once found throughout much of the western United States. Energy exploration, wildfires, disease and other pressures have decimated their numbers in recent decades.
A 2015 agreement brokered by the Obama administration removed the birds from the endangered species list by imposing limits on where and when development could occur within a 270,000-square-mile area.
Now Interior Ministry officials want to further strengthen protection. Their plan would eliminate loopholes that allow development in areas considered critical to the birds' long-term survival. New solar and wind power projects are excluded, and oil and gas exploration can only occur from drilling platforms outside protected areas.
This May 9, 2008 file photo shows a male Greater Grouse fighting for the attention of a female southwest of Rawlins, Wyoming. (Jerret Raffety/Rollins Daily Times, via AP)
President Trump is pushing to open more public lands to energy development, consistent with his mantra of “training the baby drill.” During the first administration, officials tried to roll back Obama-era sage-grouse protections, but were blocked in court.
Interior Secretary Deb Haaland said Friday's proposal would promote grouse habitat while allowing development to continue on some federal lands. She said the plan is based on the best science to protect birds.
“For too long, we have been presented with false choices about land management that aim to pit development against conservation,” Haaland said in a statement.
But the agency's attempts to find a compromise did not sit well with environmentalists, industry representatives and Republican elected officials.
Most of the land in question (about 4,700 square miles) is in Nevada and California, according to government documents. Affected areas also include Wyoming, Oregon, Idaho, Colorado, Montana and the Dakotas.
Wyoming Governor Mark Gordon lamented his administration's “extreme indifference” to his state. The Republican governor said the new federal regulations would prevent practical solutions for grouse.
“We have shown how to successfully manage this bird and manage it in a way that allows for the protection of core habitat alongside responsible development,” Gordon said.
Meanwhile, environmentalists said authorities were wasting an opportunity to put in place meaningful conservation measures that could halt the grouse's slow spiral toward extinction. They noted that loopholes that would allow development would remain across about 50,000 square miles of public land.
“This is death by thousands of cuts,” said Greta Anderson of the Western Watershed Project, an environmental group involved in previous grouse lawsuits. “The Biden administration could have stopped the cuts, but they didn't. The fact that it's not that bad doesn't mean it's not bad.”
Federal officials expected the economic impact to be minimal. They say energy companies are already keeping grouse out of their habitat and have restrictions on when and where they can work near breeding grounds. Officials say these companies can continue to find opportunities on other public lands.
Energy industry representatives objected to this. Kathleen Sgamma of the Western Energy Alliance said the Biden administration is already restricting the leasing of sage-grouse habitat.
“So they deny access and say companies are avoiding them anyway,” Sgamma said. “That's dishonest.”
The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management will accept protests against Friday's proposal until Dec. 9. A final decision on changes to the department's land management plan will be made after the appeal is resolved.
A related proposal to help the grouse would block new mining projects in more than 15,625 square miles in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah and Wyoming for 20 years. The proposal was part of an Obama-era safeguard in 2015. It was revoked under the Trump administration but reinstated by the courts.
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The Interior Ministry said an analysis of the mining ban is expected to be published by the end of the year.
It is estimated that millions of sage-grouse once existed in all or parts of 11 Western states. According to government scientists, the population has declined by 65% since 1986.
