NCA 2009 President's Award Recipient - The Progressive Rancher ...

Flying In the Face of Common Sense
If one were to ask almost any rancher in the inland west to name the three most pressing
and or threatening issues to their livelihood in the spring of 2013, their responses
would undoubtedly include sage grouse, drought and the federal regulations which spawn
therefrom, wildfire, and intrusion from the federal and state agencies into their ability to
make a living. Because the 2015 target date for a decision as to whether or not the sage
grouse will be placed on the threatened or endangered species list is rapidly approaching,
this issue commands primary concern. One has only to look to western Owyhee County in
Idaho where several ranchers are facing massive cuts of their grazing permits due to sage
grouse to realize that the threat is real and imminent.
Armed with “shaky” science and revisionist history, the anti-domestic livestock grazing
forces have appropriated the sage grouse as their primary weapon much as similar
forces exploited the spotted owl to cripple the timber industry in the Pacific Northwest
several decades previous.
There have been literally hundreds of studies and comment documents prepared by individuals,
sportsman’s groups, livestock and farming associations, as well as local and state
governments to mitigate the negative effects of the United States Fish and Wildlife Service
(USFWS) Status Review and Petition to List the Greater Sage Grouse as an endangered
species. Central to all considerations for a listing decision are total population and trend
information of a targeted species relative to potential threats. The Owyhee Cattlemen’s
Association/Idaho Cattle Association document using the data of noted researcher W. F.
Price who has relied extensively on diaries and journals of early explorers most notably
Meriwether Lewis in 1805, Peter Skene Ogden in 1824-29, John Work – 1830-31, concluded
that the factual historic record clearly shows that the birds were relatively scarce or absent
over much of the range they occupy today, and that current populations and occupied
habitat is significantly greater than during pre-settlement times, indicating a net positive
outcome, which is diametrically opposed to the position taken by the USFWS in their listing
petition. According to Price, the pre-settlement claims are “at best a misstatement of
fact and at worst a deliberate misrepresentation of the historic record…the fabrication of a
pre-settlement history, which did not exist, must cast doubt as to whether any of the purported
documentation of information in the petition is accurate, legitimate, and presented
without deception or bias.”
The “Status Review and Petition” claims an adverse relationship between livestock
grazing and sage grouse populations. This is of course the position of several environmental
groups whose mission is to eliminate livestock grazing entirely on federal lands. This
assertion is completely at odds with the historic data. Livestock grazing on the public domain
generally began in the 1860’s and reached its peak in the early decades of the 1900’s.
Perhaps not coincidentally, those figures parallel the sage grouse populations of the same
period. Historic journals indicate relative scarcity of sage grouse in the Intermountain West
during the period from 1820-1850 and vast flocks of sage grouse from the 1870’s to the
1950’s. There has been a major decline in numbers of livestock and in sage grouse populations
from the 1950’s to the present. This data does not support the theory that there is an
adverse relationship between livestock grazing and sage grouse. To the contrary, it actually
suggests a positive relationship.
Most studies agree that there are several contributing factors to the decline in sage
grouse numbers. Near the top of the list are wildfires, disease (West Nile Virus), and predation
– raiding of nests and killing of chicks in the spring, and killing of adults mainly by
raptors and coyotes during the winter. A series of late, cold wet springs can also have
a significant detrimental effect on chick hatch and subsequent survival. At the top
of the predator list is the raven-which just
happens to be a protected species – followed
at some distance by the coyote.
Many experts also point to habitat
destruction as a primary threat to sage
grouse populations. I am sure that all agree
that the massive wildfires which have
destroyed hundreds of thousands of acres
of sage grouse habitat in Owyhee County,
Idaho, and throughout northern Nevada
since 1999 could not have helped but have
had a negative impact on sage grouse numbers.
So what is the answer? Yes, of course
remove the cattle and sheep! I am sorry,
but not only does this approach violate all
historical evidence and research, it just
by Linda Drown Bunch
For What It ’s Worth
Many people confuse crows with ravens. Crows are smaller, have squared-off
or fan-shaped tails, and more slender bills. Ravens often soar; crows never do.
If the bird does a barrel roll, it’s a raven. Crows caw; ravens croak and mutter.
Raven voices are more varied and much deeper and throatier than the crow’s
monotonous nasal call.
Common ravens grow to about 25 inches in length and weigh more than 2
pounds. They can live for more than 20 years and survive almost anywhere.
By some estimates, raven populations nationwide have grown by 300 percent
in the past 40 years. In Nevada, the increase is thought to be more like 600
percent.
Ravens are protected by the United States Fish and Wildlife Service under
the “Migratory Bird Treaty Act”
flies in the face of common sense!
The Sage Grouse Conservation Plan adopted in September 2012 by the Elko County
Commissioners includes the following provision:
Develop a Pilot Project to monitor the effects of historical grazing, predator control
and range management methods and their impacts on the Sage Grouse Populations and
Habitat.
Issue:
Lack of current specific data concerning the effects on Sage Grouse Populations and
Habitat when utilizing historical Livestock Grazing, Predator Control and Range Management
policies and measures.
Actions:
1) Propose the identification of a specific Pilot Project area of approximately 72 square
miles to 216 square miles in size to implement historical livestock grazing, predator control
and range management polices to develop scientific data related to the Sage Grouse populations
and habitat.
2) Implement and develop the Pilot Project using historical livestock grazing, predator
control and range management polices to develop scientific data related to the Sage Grouse
populations and habitat.
3) Funding through the State of Nevada Department of Wildlife & BLM from Ruby
Pipeline Sage Grouse Conservation funds.
In March 2013 the Elko County Commission instituted the first known Pilot Project.
The ranch chosen is the 15,000 deeded acre Devil’s Gate Ranch, owned by the Ken Bowler
family, located about six miles north of the Elburz Exit on I80 as the crow, or should we
say raven, flies. Central to the project are sensible livestock grazing which will manage the
fuel load and reduce the risk of massive wildfire and predator control. The primary target
will be the large resident raven population and the goal is to obtain permitted poison-laced
eggs which are very effective in destroying the target species – ravens. Also hunting and
trapping of coyotes and other predators will be encouraged.
In the forty year history of the Endangered Species Act, this is the first known privatelocal
government agreement with action on the ground to stave off a federal listing, commissioners
said. It is a long-term project, and even if the sage grouse is listed, the project
will continue to demonstrate that the bird numbers will improve if the federal government
will increase, rather than decrease, grazing to prevent massive fires, and engages in reasonable
predator control. The aim of the project is not to convince the USFWS, but to show
the public and Congress that there is a direct correlation between federal land management
policies since the 1950’s and the decline in sage grouse numbers.
It is encouraging to see local entities and individual stakeholders taking matters into
their own hands to come up with creative common-sense solutions to a major problem
rather than relying on the agencies and their “scientific” studies. The USFWS and some
environmental groups who will automatically close their eyes and plug their ears when
confronted with any information that runs contrary to their stated agendas, are already
criticizing the pilot project. Since they are not the target audience, the Elko County Commission,
and hopefully the people and Congress, will not be deterred by this criticism. The
goal of the originators of the Elko County Pilot Project is for this pilot project concept to
increase sage grouse to spread to not only other counties in Nevada but to other states as
well. A county in Utah is already considering its own pilot project. It is also hoped that
other ranchers will start looking at their operations to see if the Devil’s Gate Model
could be adapted to them. Anyone interested in developing a pilot project should
contact Randy Brown, Assistant Elko
County Manager, at 775-738-6816, former
Nevada Assemblyman John Carpenter at
775-738-9861, or Elko County Commissioner
Grant Gerber at 775-738-9258.
(Linda Drown Bunch, a fourth generation
Elko county native, was raised on the family
ranch on the South Fork of the Humboldt
River near Lee, Nevada, at the foot of the Ruby
Mountains. Her parents later ranched in the
Three Creek area of Owyhee County, Idaho.
Linda began her teaching career at the Three
Creek School where she taught for six years.
She and her husband Randy then settled in
Independence Valley where she taught at the
Independence Valley School before retiring to
raise horses and buck bulls.)
www.progressiverancher.com The Progressive Rancher
April 2013 11