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Presidential Pardon Requested for Endangered Western Grouse

Date
November 26, 2008
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Wednesday, November 26, 2008
Presidential Pardon Requested for Endangered Western Grouse

Conservation Organizations Urge Protection on Cusp of Turkey Pardon
Contact: WildEarth Guardians

SANTA FE, N.M. – Conservation organizations today requested that President Bush “pardon” endangered grouse in western North America by granting them protection under the Endangered Species Act. The request comes on the cusp of the President’s traditional pardon of a Thanksgiving turkey.

“The compassion that marks the Presidential Pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey should be extended to the beautiful and powerful wild grouse of the West, several of which are suffering greatly under President Bush’s uncompassionate assault against wildlife and public lands in the U.S.,” said Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director for WildEarth Guardians.

The organizations urged Bush to marry the 60-year tradition of the Presidential Pardon for Thanksgiving turkeys with the 35-year tradition of the Endangered Species Act providing a vital safety net for fish, wildlife and plants on the brink of extinction. The groups warned that protection should be immediately extended to the Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse, Greater Sage-Grouse, Gunnison Sage-Grouse, Lesser Prairie-Chicken and Mono Basin Sage-Grouse.

“The Bush administration has sacrificed Western wildlife in its rush to drill our public lands. Protecting the sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act now would make for one less mess the Obama administration will have to clean up,” said Josh Pollock, Acting Executive Director for Denver-based Center for Native Ecosystems.

The letter notes that 86 percent of Americans support protecting species under the Endangered Species Act and that protecting western grouse will help conserve natural landscapes that benefit both grouse and human communities.

Five western grouse species and distinct populations have been petitioned for listing under the Endangered Species Act, but are not yet protected.

Columbian Sharp-Tailed Grouse distribution has declined since 1900. The subspecies now occurs in less than ten percent of its historic range. Although millions of Columbian sharp-tailed grouse probably occurred in the West historically, only 18,000 – 25,000 breeding individuals currently remain in the United States.

Greater Sage-Grouse distribution has decreased by 56 percent while rangewide abundance has been reduced by as much as 93 percent from historic levels.

Gunnison Sage-Grouse occur in eight small populations in southwestern Colorado and southeastern Utah. The species has experienced significant declines from historic numbers and only about 4,000 breeding individuals remain. The National Audubon Society identified the Gunnison Sage-Grouse as one of the ten most endangered birds in the United States in 2006.

The current range of Lesser Prairie-Chicken has been reduced to relatively small and scattered areas that comprise approximately 8 percent of historic range. The species total population has been roughly estimated at between 10,000-25,000 individuals.

Mono Basin Sage-Grouse are a genetically distinct population of Greater Sage-Grouse that occur in small populations in southeastern California and southwestern Nevada.

“This is President Bush’s last chance to protect these birds and their habitat, and improve a miserable environmental record,” said Salvo. “We expect that President Elect Obama will do better to protect imperiled species.”

Organizations that endorsed the letter include WildEarth Guardians, Biodiversity Conservation Alliance, Center for Native Ecosystems, Oregon Natural Desert Association and Western Watersheds Project.

The conservation organization’s letter to President Bush is available here (PDF).

 

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"The compassion that marks the Presidential Pardon of the Thanksgiving turkey should be extended to the beautiful and powerful wild grouse of the West, several of which are suffering greatly under President Bush’s uncompassionate assault against wildlife and public lands in the U.S.," said Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director for WildEarth Guardians.