Colorado acts to protect grouse

DENVER -- State, regional and federal wildlife managers are teaming up to protect the greater sage grouse in Colorado and keep it off the endangered species list, a move that would affect the state's booming energy industry.

A plan signed Monday by the various agencies identifies steps to preserve the bird's sagebrush habitat to prevent population declines that could trigger more stringent, mandatory protections.

The bird, the largest of the grouse, once numbered more than 1 million and were found from eastern California and Washington to Colorado, North Dakota and southern Canada.

Federal officials estimate that only about 100,000 to 500,000 sage grouse are left, occupying about half of their historic territory.

Environmental groups have petitioned federal officials to declare the bird as threatened or endangered and recently won a court battle to force its reconsideration.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service opened a new review of the bird's status after a federal judge in Idaho ruled in December that the agency ignored expert advice when it determined in 2005 that the sage grouse wasn't in danger of extinction.

Studies in Wyoming have found that oil and gas development has driven grouse away from mating sites.

Denver-based Center for Native Ecosystems, which advocates federal protections for the greater sage grouse, said Colorado's plan to protect the bird includes "several ambitious and potentially effective strategies." But the group said the real test will be the various agencies' commitment to following those strategies.

The center said while the plan recommends not drilling and other activities in the bird's breeding grounds, it is less stringent on activities in the surrounding nesting areas, which runs counter to recommendations of several prominent biologists and experts.

"Sage grouse do more than just mate. All the science shows that sage grouse need protection throughout their habitat," said Erin Robertson, a biologist with the Center for Native Ecosystems.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management, which manages federal minerals, has a weak track record on protecting sage grouse, said Josh Pollock, the center's conservation director.

In November, the BLM withdrew proposed oil and gas leases in northwestern Colorado that were in sage grouse habitat. Area residents and conservation groups had protested the leases.