Hi Matt, Craig and all,
Thanks for the good discussion and for bringing up the issue of
long-term trends in Greater Sage-Grouse populations.
The document at this link:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/wildlife/sagegrouse/docs/Greater_Sage_Grouse_Candiadate_species_Backgrounder.pdf
seems like a good indication of the scientific approach by ODFW staff.
The fact that the link to this document is misspelled might or might not
reflect the amount of attention, higher up the ladder.
As Dave Irons suggested, decisions at the political level tend to be
best when the people responsible for those decisions are paying
attention, and know that people are watching.
The Oregon Fish & Game Commission has a meeting scheduled for March
18th:
http://www.dfw.state.or.us/agency/commission/minutes/16/03_march/index.asp
See Attachment F which describes "permanent rules for Division 415;
referring specifically to Section 140, rules for Greater Sage-Grouse
mitigation" -- in relation to energy projects in GRSG habitat. Note that
NO PUBLIC COMMENTS WERE RECEIVED.
Clearly as birders we should be paying more attention. Again, I'm glad
that the BOO list finally provides a vehicle for discussing this kind of
topic, after too many years of self-censorship by birders. If you go on
Google and search for hunting/fishing forums here in Oregon, you'll see
that they haven't been nearly so reticent about expressing their
opinions.
--
Joel Geier
Camp Adair area north of Corvallis
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