** Sage-grouse numbers predicted to fall for fourth straight year
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Monday, April 27, 2020
Sage-grouse population decreases raise questions about federal management of crucial habitat | Bob Wick, Bureau of Land Management ([link removed])

Scientists are alarmed that sage-grouse numbers are expected to drop across the West ([link removed]) for the fourth year in a row. This strange bird serves as an ‘indicator species,’ predicting the health of plant and animal species across the sagebrush ecosystem. However, they are in danger. After years of negotiations, a historic collaborative conservation plan was signed in 2015 to try and protect the bird—but that plan was promptly thrown out by the Trump administration to promote drilling and mining.

On April 6, 22 scientists, including some who were a part of the 2015 collaborative plan, sent a letter expressing concerns regarding the federal government’s approach to the issue. They wrote, “The Department of Interior appears to be ignoring current science, which threatens its federal trust responsibility to conserve and manage our natural resources and may have severe consequences for sage-grouse.”

Sage-grouse populations can be impacted by numerous factors, including climate change and invasive species. But by far the biggest factor in their decline is habitat destruction from human development, particularly oil and gas development.

Extractive industry lease sales have ramped up in the past three years. Between 2017 and 2019, the acres leased in Wyoming went from 390,000 acres to nearly 1.2 million acres. Analysis has found that 27 percent ([link removed]) of oil and gas leases sold during the Trump administration are located in sage-grouse priority management areas.

Now, after a 40 percent decrease in population in the past four years, there are only about 300,000 sage-grouse left in the United States.
Quick hits


** EPA comes under fire from Colorado attorney general for regulatory rollbacks
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Denver Post ([link removed])


** Bankruptcy looms over U.S. energy industry, from oil fields to pipelines
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Reuters ([link removed]) | The Hill ([link removed])


** Market forces combine with COVID-19 to crush hundreds of Wyoming coal jobs
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WyoFile ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Western states struggle to reopen economies while dissuading outdoor tourism
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M ([link removed]) ontana Free Press ([link removed]) | C ([link removed]) olorado Sun ([link removed])


** Review of controversial Colorado quarry pushed to 2021, county continues court battle
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Post Independent ([link removed])


** Sage-grouse numbers predicted to fall for fourth straight year
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Powell Tribune ([link removed])


** The challenges of wildlife migrations across Interstate 80
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K ([link removed]) PVI ([link removed])


** Analysis: Don’t bail out oil and gas — clean up abandoned wells instead
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Truthout ([link removed])
Quote of the day
By limiting windows for public comment, [the EPA] certainly [is] muzzling voices of the people. And rolling back enforcement during a crisis like this? It can only be seen as intentional disregard of frontlines communities.”
—Ean Tafoya, Colorado Latino Forum co-chairman and Green Latinos state organizer, D ([link removed]) enver Post ([link removed])
Picture this


** @USFWSMtnPrairie ([link removed])
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This young bull moose survived winter and his antlers are starting to grow! He might look a little rough around the edges right now, but soon he will have a fresh summer coat and some lovely antlers. We can’t wait for this #glowup ([link removed]) ! More: [link removed] ([link removed]) Photo: @USFWS ([link removed])

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