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Monday, March 16, 2015
Utah May Fail First Test of State Sage-grouse Conservation Plan
Morgan County poised to usher in resort development among Henefer, Pioneer Camp leks
Contact: Bob Brister (801) 466-4056
Additional Contacts:
Allison Jones, Wild Utah Project, 801.328.3550 (office) 801.651.9385 (cell),allison@wildutahproject.org
Mark Salvo, Defenders of Wildlife, 202.772.0229, msalvo@defenders.org
Travis Bruner, Western Watersheds Project, 208.788.2290,travis@westernwatersheds.org
Morgan, UT –Tomorrow night, and for the third time since last summer, the Morgan County Council will take up the issue of whether to approve a recommendation by its Planning Commission to allow for development of a resort among key sage-grouse breeding grounds north of East Canyon Reservoir. Approving the recommendation would require changing a land use designation in the County General Plan, in contravention of the state’s Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-grouse.
Allison Jones of the Wild Utah Project cautioned against a decision by the county to change the county general plan to appease certain landowners, “Morgan County should support the governor and Utah’s sage-grouse plan, which identifies many proactive alternatives to development on private lands, including conservation easements that protect land from development while putting real dollars in landowners’ pockets.”
The 3,000-acre project area includes one sage-grouse lek, or mating site, and is only one mile away from the well-known Henefer Divide lek, which is the most popular lek for wildlife watchers in Utah, partly because it is adjacent to Highway 65 and the Wasatch front. Increased traffic and/or widening of the highway from the resort subdivision would threaten the survival of this grouse population. Sage-grouse are a well-studied species, and it is well known that their populations collapse in the face of development in key sagebrush habitats. Grouse display exceptionally strong affinity to their leks, returning to the exact area every year. Grouse do not simply move to other areas when their leks are destroyed.
“If the Council allows the development to proceed, it is writing the death warrant for the Henefer lek,” said Bob Brister with WildEarth Guardians. “Doing so would prove the state’s sage-grouse policy is ineffective and further demonstrate the need for Endangered Species Act protections for the imperiled grouse.”
The Morgan County Council’s vote tomorrow night is the first real test of Utah’s new sage-grouse conservation plan. Governor Herbert and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources issued a new state plan in 2013 in response to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s finding that listing the greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act is warranted. The release of Utah’s plan was an attempt to convince the federal agency that listing the species is unnecessary because Utah (and other states) is implementing adequate conservation measures to conserve the species, particularly in “Sage-grouse Management Areas” (SGMAs) that are essential to the species survival. The sage-grouse population in Morgan County is included in an SGMA. The state plan lays out a clear scenario for permitting development: 1) avoid siting development on or next to leks, 2) minimize all disturbances, and 3) mitigate disturbances. While these measures might be effective, they are entirely voluntary under the state’s plan.
“The state’s conservation plan is long on advice against development, but short on enforceable protections, so Morgan County will decide whether this sage-grouse population thrives or disappears,” said Mark Salvo of Defenders of Wildlife. “This is no way to protect imperiled wildlife.”
The Morgan County Council will vote on the proposed development again tomorrow evening, March 17 at 5:00, at the Morgan County Courthouse (48 West Young Street in Morgan). The first time the rezoning request was on the agenda last summer, it failed on a tie-vote, with one council member absent. A month later a full council quorum was present. But after all of those testifying during the public comment session, the majority of whom were from Morgan County, spoke against rezoning the SGMA because they did not believe the proposal represented their interests or those of the county, the developer’s representativerequested the vote be tabled. Now, six months later, the developer has asked that the County Council issue its final decision on the land use designation change.
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