Imagine dozens of farmers and ranchers sitting for hours, elbow-to-elbow, with conservationists, biologists, energy companies and land managers.

They sit, they talk and they listen to each other in marathon sessions. Then they agree on several things they can do individually and collectively to help the greater sage grouse flourish across the vast sagebrush landscape it depends on for survival.

That was the scene and the impressive commitment shown by the nearly 300 attendees at the National Conference for Sage-grouse Local Working Groups held in Reno, Nev., in early February.

The Western Governors' Association, along with other agencies and groups, sponsored the two-day conference that brought together representatives from more than three-quarters of the 58 local working groups in 11 Western states. It was a remarkable demonstration of their dedication to continue and build upon the locally driven efforts to conserve the sage grouse.

It is the success of those efforts that also helped the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conclude in January -- before the conference -- that the greater sage grouse does not warrant listing under the Endangered Species Act.

Western governors believe these locally driven efforts are key to ensuring a healthy sage grouse population and sagebrush habitat.

Local working group members and other conference participants had the opportunity to participate in breakout sessions, ask questions of experts and tell the experts what they think it will take to be successful and encourage other start-ups.

They also provided state and federal decision-makers with numerous recommendations. Among them are:

• Empower local working groups by allowing their plans to be implemented at the same time as other range-wide plans and strategies are developed.

• Commit to long-term funding to get the job done.

• Provide quick and easy access to data, research and information on successful conservation efforts from around the region.

• Breakdown political boundaries to encourage cooperation.

• Support creative approaches, even if all the science is not yet available to prove they will work.

Council Will Assist Local Groups

The recommendations from the sage grouse conference are being reviewed by states and other conference co-sponsors.

But it is clear, coordination will be critical among the working groups; local, state, tribal and federal governments; industry; and nongovernmental entities. That is why WGA has agreed to establish the Sagebrush Conservation Council to assist interested local working groups in achieving their goals.

The Western Governors' Association adopted a resolution on March 1 to create the council, and we restated our commitment to work with federal agencies to ensure the health of the grouse and the sagebrush habitat range-wide.

The council will assist groups when their objective requires coordination across political boundaries and the involvement of decision-makers. Providing assistance to activate or bring together concerned individuals, organizations and agencies will be a key objective.

Most important, the council will serve as a reliable, broad-based resource for local working groups as they develop and complete sage grouse conservation plans, begin implementing them, and, in some cases, develop broader conservation plans for sagebrush habitat that will benefit other species.

The local working groups are hard at work and it is our goal to have the council up and running to assist them as quickly as possible. This effort will depend on public and private funding and support from federal agencies, Congress, conservation groups and private industry.


Update the ESA and increase states' role

The sage grouse is a great example of the critical role states have played, and will continue to play, in the conservation of species.

We applaud the principles of the Endangered Species Act, but we also have maintained a long-standing interest in improving species recovery efforts by making the process more efficient and by providing more effective incentives for state and private conservation activities.

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Based on our experiences, it has become clear that Congress must give us more tools and the authority to make state and local conservation efforts meaningful.

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Based on our experiences, it has become clear that Congress must give us more tools and the authority to make state and local conservation efforts meaningful.

In a recent letter to the House and Senate natural resources committees, we also emphasized the importance of updating and modernizing the 30-year-old law to increase its effectiveness and enhance its success in recovering and protecting endangered species. There is broad-based support for this concept.

Last December, Western governors convened the Endangered Species Act Summit, bringing together a very diverse set of stakeholders to discuss ways in which the ESA could be improved.

The consensus coming out of the summit was that there are many steps we can take together to update and modernize the act. We share the desire of summit participants to increase the law's effectiveness and enhance its success in recovering and protecting endangered species.

The governors' recommendations include:

Require recovery goals for listed species.

Recovery and, ultimately, delisting of species should be the highest priority, and funding for ESA activities should be prioritized to reflect this priority.

The Fish and Wildlife Service and NOAA-Fisheries should be required to publish quantifiable recovery goals, in consultation with affected states, for threatened or endangered species at the time of the listing decision to provide for objective recovery criteria that both state and federal agencies may work toward in the recovery process.

Broaden states' role in recovering species

The Endangered Species Act can effectively be implemented only through a full partnership between the states and the federal government.

One way to accomplish this partnership would be to authorize the delegation of authority for the development of conservation and recovery plans on a voluntary basis to states that choose to accept such delegation, and agree with the appropriate cabinet secretary to perform them in accordance with specified standards. Authority should also be given to the appropriate secretary to provide grants for the additional administrative costs to the state.

Ensure the use of good science in ESA decisions

Given the broad implications that may arise when ESA actions are taken, significant decisions must be made using objective, peer-reviewed science.

Peer review of listing, recovery and de-listing decisions by acknowledged independent experts is important to assure the public that decisions are well-reasoned and scientifically based.

Peer review committees should be agreed upon by the Fish and Wildlife Service, NOAA-Fisheries and the state. State agencies also have expertise and other institutional resources, such as mapping capabilities, biological inventories and other important data that should be employed in developing endangered species listing and recovery decisions.

Provide incentives for conservation

Providing economic incentives for landowners to participate in conservation efforts is likely to achieve more efficient and cost-effective results and may lead to more rapid conservation.

Western states, our communities, our businesses and our citizens have demonstrated their commitment to species conservation with the greater sage grouse and many other species.

We invite everyone who cares about replicating these successes to work with us and in urging Congress to make the Endangered Species Act even more effective in recovering and protecting species.