Sage Grouse; comparison
The Greater Sage Grouse (GSG) occupies territory in 11 western states. The same interests (uses) that are destroying GSG habitat are the same that inhibit protection of wild horses (resource) in the West.
In 2002 conservationists began to push for protection for the GSG. It took 8 years, but in 2010 the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) determined that the GSG required protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Immediately massive efforts began to protect profit driven interests that would be restricted. A time line was established to review, research and begin improving habitat to avoid a listing.
To date the bird has not been listed primarily through bureaucratic means. However the studies continue to monitor both bird populations and their habitat. Habitat crucial to their survival is being watched closely.
A listing could happen in the future, even with all the political gamesmanship.
With an entire Act of Congress to protect wild horses and their habitat we have no such data or research on herds or identification of specific habitat for their survival. In fact, when GSG habitat preservation strategies were devised it was not massive open pit mines or livestock use that was at the top of the checklist, it was removing wild horses.
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www.WildHorseEducation.org
he Greater Sage Grouse, the largest species of grouse in North America, occupies the sagebrush ecosystem of the western landscape. When the bird was in danger what did we do?