Sage [Grouse] Decision: Why the Feds Refused to Flip the Bird at Power Players

The Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has decided not to list the sage grouse as endangered or threatened. Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar will, however, list it as a candidate for protection, a weaker designation, under the Endangered Species Act.

Companies and states looking to develop energy projects in the west, such as the Independent Petroleum Association of Mountain States and the Interwest Energy Alliance, are relieved. The decision will allow projects to go forward without worrying that they will be held up or stopped because of the bird.

The sage grouse inhabits portions of several western and mountain states. If it had been labeled as endangered, the permit process to build new power plants or transmission lines would have been much more difficult and time-consuming. Two environmental groups had sued to have the bird listed as endangered; its numbers and habitat have declined over the last several decades.

Environmental regulations have made property development in the west more difficult, even for renewable energy projects like solar and wind power. In Washington state, plans to build a wind farm were scrapped as it would have affected the spotted owl habitat. Most development in the Mojave Desert, which is a prime solar power environment, has been halted awaiting environmental impact analysis. Congress, led by Senator Dianne Feinstein (D-CA) has put pressure on the Department to start the approval process again.

These and other conflicts show how difficult it is to satisfy two competing desires: for more and greener power, and for the protection of vulnerable species. Decisions like the one regarding the sage grouse - to keep an eye on it while allowing judicious development - are an effort to balance these demands.