American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2017 - 16

IndustryDigest
Bumble Bee Is Listed
As Endangered Species
WASHINGTON-The U.S. Fish &
Wildlife Service has declared the rusty
patched bumble bee (RPBB) an
endangered species, although the Jan.
11 Federal Register announcement says
the agency is not designating any
critical habitat at this time because "the
information sufficient to perform a
required analysis of the impacts of
(habitat) designation is lacking."
USFWS says the RPBB is the first
bumble bee in the United States and the
first bee of any kind in the lower-48
states to be listed as endangered.
Once abundant across 28 states from
Connecticut to South Dakota, the
District of Columbia and two Canadian
provinces, according to the agency,
RPBB populations have declined 87
percent since the late 1990s, leaving
"small, scattered populations" in 13
states and one province. USFWS says
that since 2001, RPBBs have been
reported in Illinois, Indiana, Iowa,
Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts,
Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Virginia,
Wisconsin, and Ontario.
USFWS attributes the bees' decline
to loss of habitat, disease and parasites,
use of pesticides, climate change, and
extremely small population size.
In comments opposing an
endangered listing, the Independent
Petroleum Association of America says
it highlighted the lack of scientific and
commercial data. In comments it filed
last year, IPAA suggested USFWS
failed to effectively assess the RPBB's
population by relying on "inappropriate
and unreliable data," and by basing its
evaluation on speculation rather than
facts.
IPAA says it also suggested USFWS
issue a special rule to help conserve the
RPBB without placing unnecessary
restrictions on commercial activities
that have no significant impact on the
bee. Instead, IPAA says it urged the
service to work with the state, local and
industry partners to conserve the RPBB
without limiting economic activity.
The Federal Register notice indicates
USFWS is still working on a recovery
plan, which when final will be available
on its website at
http://www.fws.gov/endangered. ❒
16 THE AMERICAN OIL & GAS REPORTER

BLM Offers Draft Plan
To Protect Sage Grouse
Across 10 Million Acres
WASHINGTON-As part of its
efforts to conserve habitat vital to the
greater sage grouse population in
Western states, the Bureau of Land
Management says it is releasing a draft
proposal to withdraw a subset of lands
from future mining claims.
The agency's draft environmental
impact statement covers 10 million
acres of federal locatable minerals in
areas crucial to the greater sage grouse
in six states: Idaho, Montana, Nevada,
Oregon, Utah and Wyoming. It analyzes
five alternatives, ranging from no action
to withdrawing all 10 million acres.
BLM says it is accepting public
comments on the proposal through
March 30.
"We appreciate the input we have
received from states, tribes and other
important stakeholders to help develop
this draft analysis of the proposed
mineral withdrawal," says Kristin Bail,
BLM assistant director for resources
and planning. "We look forward to
working closely with the public in the
coming months as we finalize a
proposal to protect important greater
sage grouse habitat from potential
future disturbance resulting from
mining claims."
The bureau announced the proposed
withdrawal in September 2015 as part
of its landscape-scale effort to prevent
the greater sage grouse from being
listed under the Endangered Species
Act, BLM says. In addition to public
meetings in the six Western states, the
bureau incorporated a mineral resource
assessment prepared by the U.S.
Geological Survey to help develop one
development scenario.
Alongside the draft EIS, BLM
published a notice of amended proposed
withdrawal that would add 388,000
acres to the 10 million acres withdrawn
for 20 years under a Sept. 24 notice.
The bureau says those additional lands
represent a Nevada proposal to swap
areas of high mineral development
potential within sagebrush focal areas
for acreage outside them.
BLM states that neither the proposed
segregation nor any subsequent
withdrawal will prohibit ongoing or
future mining exploration or extraction
operations on valid pre-existing claims.

The plan is available at
www.blm.gov/programs/fish-andwildlife/sagegrouse/blm-sagegrouseplans/minerals-withdrawals. ❒

Kansas Landowner OKs
Conservation For LPC
BOISE, ID.-The Western
Association of Fish & Wildlife
Agencies says it has finalized
permanent conservation agreements
with a private landowner to conserve
1,781 acres of lesser prairie chicken
habitat in south-central Kansas, the first
such agreement in the mixed-grass
prairie region secured as part of the
Lesser Prairie Chicken Rangewide Plan.
According to WAFWA, the
conserved acreage is native rangeland
used for livestock production, an
historical use that will continue. The
association adds the property is within
one of the highest-priority LPC
conservation areas identified in the
rangewide plan.
The transactions include a
conservation easement purchased by
WAFWA and held by Pheasants Forever
that legally restricts development and
activities detrimental to the bird's
habitat, the association describes.
WAFWA adds it has established an
endowment that will provide the
landowner with sufficient payments to
implement a LPC conservation plan in
perpetuity, and ensure the property
remains a working cattle ranch.
"It took a lot of work on the part of
WAFWA, Pheasants Forever and
ourselves to find a balance between the
needs of the LPC and maintaining
historical use of the land," says Tom
Hammond, manager of the property.
"The result is an innovative approach
that acknowledges and rewards
landowners for permanently conserving
large tracts of habitat, while
maintaining the integrity of the land for
the long-term benefit of the landowner
and the species."
The rangewide plan was developed
to ensure LPC conservation by
providing a mechanism for voluntary
cooperation by landowners and
industry, with funding coming from
voluntary mitigation payments by
industry partners, including oil and
natural gas producers, enrolled in the
plan, WAFWA reports. ❒

American Oil and Gas Reporter - February 2017

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