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WASHINGTON, DC – Today, the Chairs of the Endangered Species Act Caucus – House Natural Resources Committee Chair Raúl M. Grijalva (D-AZ), Debbie Dingell (D-MI) and Don Beyer (D-VA) – led a letter with 59 Members of Congress to House Democratic leadership requesting that the final fiscal year 2021 spending bill remain free from riders weakening Endangered Species Act protections for the greater sage-grouse.

“As you negotiate the final Fiscal Year 2021 appropriations bill for the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, we urge you to ensure that the rider from previous appropriations bills that prohibits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service from considering the greater sage-grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act is not included in the final bill,” the lawmakers wrote. “The greater sage-grouse is a keystone species in the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem, which stretches across eleven western states and supports more than 350 other species of conservation concern. Today, sage-grouse range is half of what it once was, and populations have declined precipitously in recent years.”

“Congress has repeatedly inserted politics into what should be a scientific determination about whether the species warrants ESA protections.” the lawmakers continued. “Moreover, the Trump administration has been working to further upend this carefully crafted approach, rolling back critical conservation protections to allow for more oil and gas drilling and mining in essential sage-grouse habitat. It is important that FWS scientists be permitted to assess the current population conditions of the greater-sage grouse and be allowed to do their jobs, unencumbered by politics.”

The full text of the letter is available here & below.

The sage-grouse rider is one of many Republican legislative and executive actions intended to weaken Endangered Species Act protections in recent years. These include efforts by the Trump administration to limit ESA protections for threaten species, expand critical habitat exemptions, and ignore the impacts of climate change when making ESA determinations.

Dear Speaker Pelosi, Leader Hoyer, and Chairwoman Lowey:

As you negotiate the final Fiscal Year (FY) 2021 appropriations bill for the Interior, Environment and Related Agencies, we urge you to ensure that the rider from previous appropriations bills that prohibits the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) from considering the greater sage-grouse for protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) is not included in the final bill. We very much appreciate that the House version of the Interior bill eliminated the rider and urge you to stand strong in upholding the House position in year-end negotiations on the appropriations bills.

The greater sage-grouse is a keystone species in the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem, which stretches across eleven western states and supports more than 350 other species of conservation concern. Today, sage-grouse range is half of what it once was, and populations have declined precipitously in recent years.

In 2015, the Obama Administration developed a series of collaborative conservation plans with stakeholders across the American West, engaging governors, farmers, ranchers, conservationists, and state and local officials in a public planning process to enhance sagebrush habitat and better manage resources across the range of the sage-grouse.

The desire to avoid the need to list the greater sage-grouse under the ESA was a strong motivator to keep stakeholders engaged in the collaborative process; unfortunately, that motivation has been removed as Congress has repeatedly inserted politics into what should be a scientific determination about whether the species warrants ESA protections. Moreover, the Trump administration has been working to further upend this carefully crafted approach, rolling back critical conservation protections to allow for more oil and gas drilling and mining in essential sage-grouse habitat. It is important that FWS scientists be permitted to assess the current population conditions of the greater-sage grouse and be allowed to do their jobs, unencumbered by politics.

Recent studies have found that about one million of the estimated eight million species on earth may be pushed to extinction, many within decades, while already a staggering three million birds have been lost since 1970. The ESA is one of our nation’s most important conservation laws. Given this extinction crisis, decisions about which species need protection should be based solely on science. It is long past time for the sage-grouse rider to be eliminated from the final appropriations bill.

We appreciate your consideration of this request.

Sincerely,

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