Amodei introduces bill for Western states to prevent sage grouse endangered species listing

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Contact: Brian Baluta, 202-225-6155

WASHINGTON, D.C.– In response to the potential Endangered Species Act (ESA) listing of the sage grouse, which looms over 11 Western states, including Nevada, Congressman Mark Amodei (NV-2) today introduced H.R. 4419, the Sage-Grouse and Endangered Species Conservation and Protection Act. The legislation would:

1) Provide states, local communities and the federal government with proactive, common sense resource management options when faced with potential ESA listings.

2) Establish a funding source for habitat management projects related to ESA listings.

3) Ensure that the federal government fulfills its ownership obligation for funding such habitat projects when habitat issues are the source of a proposed listing.

The bill was drafted to address a dilemma faced by Nevada where 84 percent of the sage grouse habitat is owned by the federal government, yet federal land management agencies, which have requested almost no funding to carry out habitat preservation and restoration, attempt to pass the burden of funding on to the state and private landowners.

“The number one threat to sage hen habitat in Nevada is wildland fire,” said Amodei. “Yet the federal land management agencies, who own the vast majority of the habitat, have not prioritized funding needed to undertake the necessary work to conserve the resource and prevent the ESA listing. Instead, they point fingers in an attempt to saddle state and private landowners with the responsibility for funding projects that are absolutely the responsibility of the federal government. This is nothing short of extortion and sadly adds another chapter to the war on the West story.”

The habitat management projects necessary to prevent ESA listings are also subject to federal regulations requiring a years-long National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process. “Clearly, waiting for years for permission from yourself to do habitat preservation and restoration makes no sense,” said Amodei.

The bill would require the federal government to fund its fair share of conservation work before listing a species. As a funding mechanism, the bill would utilize the federal government’s own vast inventory of lands, providing for the competitive, market-rate sale of small parcels -- 160 acres or less -- to pay for conservation measures.The funds would be distributed to federal/state councils in states with 33 percent federal land or more.

In the event of a listing, the bill would require a more transparent review of the listed species, including cost benefit analysis and updated figures regarding habitat acres and species population. The legislation also extends protections to private land owners whose properties are designated as critical habitat. Any such designation that imposes restrictions on uses of land is deemed a regulatory taking of property for which fair-value compensation is required to be paid under the Fifth Amendment of the Constitution.

“Federal land managers cannot continue to pretend that they have no financial responsibility to lead by example in protecting and restoring the vast majority of sage hen habitat they own in Nevada and the West,” said Amodei. “The threat to habitat is known. This bill would correct the attempt to make others pay for federal land habitat work and help to reverse the present treatment of the Western states.”

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