October 21, 2014 01:20 PM UTC

Meanwhile Out in Sagebrush Country...

by: PiceanceDog

It’s hard to get a word in edgewise, in the midst of a heated election season about anything, really, other than the horserace, the latest candidate blunder, this attack and that parley. But the world, even in the lonely places of Western Colorado, has not stopped because this or that candidate did or said this or that.

The governor’s Blue Ribbon Energy Task Force is meeting, even went on a controversial field trip to Battlement Mesa,and had to cancel a meeting. Miss that piece on our favorite political blog—even though its genesis was in a big looming fight wrought with political intrigue? No you probably didn’t.

Or what about the Sage Grouse? Not one but two species heading toward a listing in Colorado unless stakeholders act fast, and what has it become? Like the Task Force just an opportunity for candidates to spar over and pivot a nice pirouette around.

The Sage Grouse came up in a recent Garfield County BOCC debate, and has come up in the gubernatorial race as well. But it’s not often introduced this time of year as a subject to solve, but as a cudgel to bludgeon an opponent or an issue to duck if the latest polling suggests it ought to be.

It’s not like the grouse’s habitat has been protected, that any great stride has taken place, that the sage grouse took a break on teetering toward extinction. No, the listing is still imminent, time is still wasting, and leadership is still lacking or distracted while solutions wait for politics to play out, making an Endangered Species Act listing increasingly likely.

Unless the state acts fast to get stakeholders to the table and work with the BLM, the oil and gas industry, local governments, conservationists, and others make a real, protective plan to save the Sage Grouse. By all accounts this is a winning plan for Colorado:protecting Sage Grouse habitat also secures valuable hunting lands, helps fuel a multi-billion dollar economy, and doesn't unduly impact oil and gas development–despite the common refrain that it would from some special interest groups.

Here's the deal: Colorado faces important choices. Some include the ones we are hearing about to the near exclusion of everything else–picking this or that candidate, supporting that or this ballot measure. But other choices also need made that could have an even more profound, and lasting, impact on our state and the world's wildlife.

Can the election get here soon enough? Let’s hope it does for the Sage Grouse.

Meanwhile Out in Sagebrush Country...

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