August 11, 2006

TELLURIDE, COLO. - At the urging of three-term Green County Commissioner Art Goodtimes, San Miguel County in Colorado has formally joined an effort to protect the Gunnison sage-grouse under the federal Endangered Species Act. The County's action is in response to a decision this past spring by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to eliminate protections for the Gunnison sage-grouse and remove it from consideration as a "threatened" or "endangered" wildlife species.

The county, which is expected to be the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit, joins a growing coalition of local and national conservation groups who have warned the agency that it must reverse its illegal decision or face litigation. "It's great to see the county insisting that the Gunnison sage-grouse be protected under the Endangered Species Act," said Mark Salvo, Director of the Sagebrush Sea Campaign.

As the county´s representative on the San Miguel Basin Sage Grouse Working Group, Goodtimes has been collaborating to use state and local tools to preserve the local population of sage-grouse. He´s succeeded in getting a state-approved Rangewide Conservation Plan for the sage-grouse adopted into the County Land Use Code, and he´s helped initiate a Purchase of Development Rights program in the county that uses local and state tax dollars to preserve sage grouse habitat through land conservation agreements.

"Not listing the Gunnison Sage Grouse as an endangered species is mind boggling," said Goodtimes. "This is an administration that wouldn´t have listed the passenger pigeon as endangered, even if it had been given the chance."

Currently this species now occurs only in eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah and has experienced significant declines in recent years with perhaps fewer than 4,000 breeding individuals remaining.

Livestock grazing, oil and gas drilling, motorized recreation, and urbanization threaten its continued existence. Severe drought in recent years has exacerbated the effects of these human impacts. West Nile virus has also been discovered in Gunnison sage-grouse range.

"We prefer that these issues be resolved cooperatively," said Jacob Smith, Executive Director of the Center for Native Ecosystems, another plaintiff in the suit, "but when the federal government so egregiously breaks the law, local governments and community groups have no other choice but to go to court."