Raquel Mustaca: Zinke chucks sage grouse plan, putting bird nearer to extinction

Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke has opened the door to putting politics over science in order to undermine and undo one of the greatest collaborative conservation efforts in our nation’s history. As a westerner, I am deeply concerned about this reopening of federal plans to protect the greater sage grouse, which were forged over many years by multiple stakeholders. Western governors, ranchers, conservationists, industry groups and state wildlife agencies all came together to develop a truly bipartisan, collaborative conservation plan which ultimately kept the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list back in September 2015.

Making significant changes that weaken the plan in any way would only increase the likelihood of sage grouse populations reaching such low levels that the bird will need to be added to the endangered species list, an outcome nobody wants.

The Department of the Interior’s Bureau of Land Management must let the Sage Grouse Plan work. Any changes to the plan must be based on sound science and honor the bi-partisan, collaborative conservation effort that has helped bring the bird back from the brink and keep it off the endangered species list.

This story was originally published November 21, 2017 at 2:47 PM with the headline "Raquel Mustaca: Zinke chucks sage grouse plan, putting bird nearer to extinction."