County wants core habitat extended

Recent suggestions regarding sage grouse core habitat have drawn the ire of a Sweetwater County commissioner.

Tuesday morning, Commissioner Wally Johnson voiced displeasure with the state government’s refusal to add area on White Mountain to recognized core habitat for sage grouse. The bird has drawn a lot of attention statewide as many fear of its inclusion on the endangered species list, which politicians including Johnson say would curtail industrial development in Wyoming. Within Sweetwater County alone, more than a third of its 2.4 million acres are identified as core habitat.

The county initially proposed the expansion after the discovery of a 30-bird lek near White Mountain in 2010. That lek dropped to seven birds in a more recent survey, but was still recommended for protection by the working group mapping county leks and the mapping committee for the state’s Sage Grouse Implementation Team.

Objections to the lek’s inclusion were raised in a letter to the SGIT from the Rock Springs Grazing Association May 6, which resulted in the SGIT voting down the lek’s inclusion in core habitat area. The RSGA objected due to its belief the expansion would halt the possible development of wind energy on White Mountain. Tasco Engineering did express interest in developing a wind farm in the area about eight years ago, however their permits have since expired.

The county appealed the decision to the governor’s office, but that appeal didn’t result in the habitat being expanded, according to Johnson.

“We’ve gone on the record ... as to why it should be expanded,” Johnson said.

Johnson told the other commissioners in the meeting he planned to have a conference call between himself and representatives of the SGIT and governor’s office today. Johnson has long been an outspoken critic of sage grouse being listed as an endangered species and has urged state officials to look at pressures on bird populations from sources outside of the mineral extraction industries. Johnson believes increased predation of sage grouse eggs from ravens and other predators have resulted in the bird’s decreased populations.

Johnson said the county has disagreed with sage grouse core habitat in the past, but thinks White Mountain should have an increased core habitat area.