Decades of conservation efforts are credited as the reason for not listing sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. On Tuesday morning, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service announced its finding that the bird is not warranted for protection.

The “not warranted” decision basically means ongoing conservation efforts will continue, said Wyoming Game and Fish sage grouse coordinator Tom Christensen.

“It does not mean we get to have a celebration and walk away from sage grouse conservation,” Christensen said. “It is good news that the bird remains in state management hands, but we cannot back off of the conservation efforts that are underway.”

If sage grouse were listed as endangered, the economic impact would cost multiple billions of dollars — affecting all types of energy industries, road and utility construction, urban development and agriculture.

To prevent this from happening, conservation efforts and population trend analysis will remain ongoing with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service as plans and projects continue everywhere sage grouse are found.

“It’s not over,” said Michael Thabault, assistant regional director for ecological service for U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Denver. “The basis of the ‘not warranted’ finding is because the BLM and the states have robust plans with some strength behind them that sage grouse conservation will continue in the future — that is the key. People put time and efforts and money into making plans, and now we need to implement those, because that is what we based our decision on.”

According to the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies’ recent analysis of lek count databases, the number of male sage grouse counted on leks range-wide increased by 63 percent from 2013 to 2015, going from 43,397 up to 80,284. A minimum breeding population of 424,645 was estimated in 2015, which does not include grouse on unknown leks.

The species’ growing population, along with ongoing and plans for future conservation efforts between federal, state and private organizations, was taken into account when making the determination. Because of these factors, the Fish and Wildlife Service determined “the bird does not face the risk of extinction now or in the foreseeable future and therefore does not need protection under the ESA.”

The collaborative, science-based greater sage grouse strategy is the largest land conservation effort in U.S. history, according to the Department of the Interior.

Whether or not sage grouse need protection under the ESA has been an ongoing discussion since the late 1990s.

In a video launched Tuesday on doi.gov, U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell credited the decline of sage grouse to longer and hotter fire seasons eliminating millions of acres of habitat, invasive species pushing out native vegetation, and development fragmenting the land.

“The epic conservation effort will benefit westerners and hundreds of species that call this iconic landscape home, while giving states, businesses and communities the certainty they need to plan for sustainable economic development,” Jewell said in a press release.

Scientists estimate sage grouse populations have fallen by as much as 90 percent since the 19th century, Jewell said. 

Sage grouse habitat used to cover more than 290 million acres. It is now roughly 173 million acres, spanning 11 states.

In those areas, federal and state agencies teamed up with public and private partners for habitat restoration projects to prevent sage grouse from being listed as warranted on the ESA.

The full list of past, ongoing and future sage grouse projects is so long that a database — “Greater Sage-grouse: Data Call and Conservation Efforts Database” — was created to keep track of all of them.

“A list would be exhaustive, with billions of dollars of stuff,” Christensen said.

The list of ongoing projects and future plans is so long that viewing them as a map works best at https://conservationefforts.org/grsgmap/. Nearly all of Wyoming is covered in dots indicating projects, and the majority of the Rocky Mountain West is shaded for future plans.

“If those efforts were to go away, we would be back in the (previous) situation very shortly,” Christensen said. “It is a good decision, and it is an end of a chapter in the never-ending book.”

Some of the larger-scale projects include new land management plans with the Bureau of Land Management and the U.S. Forest Service, which have increased emphasis on conserving sage grouse habitat.

The BLM and the U.S. Forest Service manage about half of the sage grouse habitat, which is located on federal land. Roughly 45 percent of the bird’s habitat is on state and private lands.

“The federal plans are pretty robust on how to modify land use management plans,” Thabault said.

On Tuesday, both agencies announced that they have issued Records of Decisions finalizing the 98 land use plans that will help conserve greater sage-grouse habitat and support sustainable economic development on portions of public lands in 10 states across the West. The plans were developed over several years with the states and local partners, guided by input from the Fish and Wildlife Service.

“One of the things that begins now is litigation; there will be people who don’t like the decision or the management actions like the BLM’s land use plans and things like that,” Christensen said. “There could be litigation from both directions. This is not the end by any means, but it is good to be in this position of not warranted. From the state’s perspective, that is good news.”

Public comments began Tuesday on the BLM’s proposal to withdraw sections of lands that are sage grouse strongholds from future development claims.

Wyoming set the standard

In 2010, it was determined that sage grouse warranted ESA protection. At that time, population declines were credited to loss of habitat and a lack of regulations to control further habitat loss.

Since then, about 4.4 million acres of important sage grouse habitat has been restored and conserved by more than 1,100 ranchers through the NRCS’ Sage Grouse Initiative. Their new strategy, often called SGI 2.0, anticipates to have 8 million acres of private land reached in the next three years.

Wyoming has been credited as a national leader in sage grouse conservation with its “core area” strategy that has been in effect for about five years. Neighboring states have adopted similar strategies.

“This decision is a success for Wyoming and for the sage grouse,” said U.S. Sen. Mike Enzi in a press release. “Wyoming has worked with stakeholders over many years to develop and implement a sage grouse management plan, and I am glad that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was able to recognize their accomplishments. The Wyoming plan has a demonstrated record of success, and the decision keeps the State of Wyoming in the driver’s seat when it comes to sage grouse management.”

Wyoming was recognized in front of Congress for the work that’s being done here to prevent listing sage grouse as endangered, said Gov. Matt Mead’s policy adviser Nephi Cole during an energy strategy plan meeting in Cody in August.

“I am pleased that the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service made the right decision. This is the result of Wyoming and other western states taking a proactive approach to the greater sage grouse — working with industry, agriculture and conservation groups and the federal government,” Gov. Mead said in a press release. “Today’s (Tuesday’s) decision recognizes Wyoming and other western states were successful. We can continue to create jobs and share our natural resources with the rest of the nation while the greater sage grouse thrives.”

For more information about sage grouse and U.S. Fish and Wildlife’s decision, go to www.doi.gov/sagegrouse.