{"id":8627,"date":"2017-10-05T15:12:34","date_gmt":"2017-10-05T19:12:34","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/?p=8627"},"modified":"2025-06-10T17:00:48","modified_gmt":"2025-06-10T21:00:48","slug":"we-sink-or-swim-together-in-the-sagebrush-sea-and-beyond","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.edf.org\/growingreturns\/2017\/10\/05\/we-sink-or-swim-together-in-the-sagebrush-sea-and-beyond\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cWe sink or swim together\u201d in the sagebrush sea, and beyond"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Western governors, landowners, conservationists and others celebrated the collaborative and bipartisan conservation effort that led to a “not warranted” listing decision<\/a> for sage-grouse in September 2015.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Today, the Interior Department opened up federal sage-grouse plans<\/a> to potential changes, despite the concerns of many state, industry, landowner and conservation stakeholders across the country.<\/p>\n

John Swartout, a senior policy advisor to Colorado Governor John Hickenlooper, said that it would be bad for Colorado<\/a> if the sage-grouse plan, developed over years with local and state involvement, was eliminated, for fears that this would lead to a future Endangered Species Act listing.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t work this hard to throw it all away and get a listing,\u201d he said, echoing concerns of others<\/a> that upending the plans could ultimately lead to the sage-grouse being listed.<\/p>\n

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead reiterated what many western governors have told Secretary Zinke \u2013 that the states should be consulted about revisions to the plans because they are ultimately the ones who have to face the consequences if the plans fail and a federal listing is warranted.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf it was a state by state listing decision, that\u2019d be one thing,\u201d Mead said<\/a>. \u201cBut the way we are with the law right now, if one state gets listed, we all are going to get listed. We sink or swim together.\u201d<\/p>\n

Impending disaster, or possible lifeline<\/strong><\/p>\n

Western governors like Hickenlooper and Mead have continued to show great bipartisan leadership on sage-grouse conservation efforts. If the plans are significantly altered or rescinded, these leaders and countless other ranchers and local stakeholders will be left to deal with great uncertainty and risk.<\/p>\n

Altering the plans could have immediate and significant negative consequences on the ground:<\/p>\n