Wednesday, September 2, 2015 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon
21
More sage grouse spending across West Folk festival gearing
up for big weekend
By Matthew Brown/gosia Wozniacka
Associated Press
PORTLAND (AP) — The
federal government plans to
spend more than $200 mil-
lion over the next three years
on programs to protect greater
sage grouse in Western states
— regardless of whether the
bird receives federal pro-
tections, U.S. Agriculture
Secretary Tom Vilsack said.
Vi l s a c k t o l d T h e
Associated Press that he
wants to almost double pro-
tected habitat for the elegant
chicken-sized bird, to 8 mil-
lion acres by 2018. He also
promised more will be done to
limit residential development
in sage grouse habitat and to
restore wetlands used by the
birds.
Nearly half of the roughly
$211 million the government
plans to invest over the next
three years will go toward
buying conservation ease-
ments, Vilsack said at a formal
announcement of the program
in Portland, Oregon. Land
under easement can only be
used for grazing, but can’t be
developed for other purposes.
Another $93 million is
slated for habitat restoration,
he said, and $18 million will
pay for technical assistance to
landowners.
“Landowners are stepping
up, they’re doing their part,
and we’re already seeing the
benefits,” Vilsack said. More
than 1,100 private landown-
ers have signed up thus far for
the program across 11 states,
he said.
The effort is part of an
ongoing campaign by the
Obama administration to
demonstrate its commitment
to staving off further declines
in grouse populations and to
avoid a proposal to list the
bird as endangered.
The bird’s fate has become
a potential political liability
heading into the 2016 elec-
tion. Federal protections
could prompt limits on energy
drilling, grazing and other
activities across the grouse’s
11-state range.
Republicans have seized
on the issue as supposed evi-
dence of wildlife protection
laws run amok. They say it
underscores the urgent need
to scale back the federal
Endangered Species Act.
Sage grouse were pro-
posed for protections under
the act in 2010, but they were
not put in place because of
other priorities.
Estimates of the num-
ber of sage grouse have var-
ied widely, from 200,000 to
500,000 birds throughout the
U.S. The birds once numbered
in the millions.
Vilsack said the adminis-
tration was seeking to balance
concerns over the bird’s future
with economic reality.
“Diversity of wildlife is
important. Diversity of econ-
omy is important as well,” he
said in an interview. “We want
our working lands to be pro-
ductive, and we also want to
make sure we maintain what’s
unique to the value of that
terrain.”
Under a court settlement
with environmentalists, the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service
faces a September 30 deadline
to decide if protections are
needed.
The future spending
Vilsack described is in addi-
tion to more than $400 mil-
lion spent on sage grouse con-
servation since 2010. Future
spending pledges — and
additional money from states,
conservation groups and oth-
ers — would bump the overall
tally to more than $750 mil-
lion for sage grouse through
2018, according to federal
officials.
In Oregon, more than $18
million has been spent on 178
sage grouse-related projects,
officials said. Participating
landowners have received
assurances from the govern-
ment that if they participate
and invest in sage grouse
conservation now, they won’t
have to face new restric-
tions if the bird is listed as
endangered.
Roaring Springs Ranch in
southeastern Oregon has gone
a step further. The ranch hired
a wildlife biologist and is con-
ducting its own research to
figure out which parts of the
ranch provide good habitat for
the sage grouse.
The ranch also cuts down
juniper trees to improve habi-
tat, and uses prescribed burns
and fire breaks to stop wild-
fires that can be devastating
to the birds, said biologist
Andrew Shields. This year,
the ranch saw a 25 percent
increase in sage grouse on
250,000 acres of its private
land.
“Doing these initiatives
from the ground up is a lot
more effective,” Shields said.
“This could be a new way of
doing conservation.”
Sisters Folk Festival is
making preparations for the
20th anniversary festival,
and organizers are gearing up
for an outstanding event. The
festival will feature 45 acts
performing more than 140
sets over three days, Septem-
ber 11-13.
All artists are scheduled to
play at least twice — many
three times — to maximize
the opportunity to see as
much music as possible.
Festival artists include:
The Subdudes, a New
Orleans blues-rock and soul
band; Canadian super group
The Bills; the 2014 encore
artist Eric Bibb; songwriter
Tift Merritt; and last year’s
crowd favorite Darlingside.
Additionally, Festival orga-
nizers are proud to bring Ses-
sion Americana; Christone
“Kingfish” Ingram, Laura
Cortese and the Dance Cards;
Ryan Montbleau, Mandolin
Orange; Shinyribs; Gretchen
Peters; Zydeco master Andre
Thierry; hit songwriter Beth
Nielsen Chapman; Cana-
dian roots band New Coun-
try Rehab; Liz Longley;
Australian-songwriter Jordie
Lane; Jonathan Byrd and the
Pickup Cowboys; Possessed
by Paul James, Patchy Sand-
ers; Lance Canales and the
Flood, and many more.
Brand-new Sisters Folk
Festival merchandise is
now available. A selection
of merchandise is currently
available at Paulina Springs
Books in Sisters. The full
array of festival gear will be
on sale at Village Green and
Sisters Art Works during the
festival.
The 2105 Sisters Folk Fes-
tival schedule can be viewed
and printed at www.sisters
folkfestival.org. Sunday-
only tickets are still avail-
able for $65 adults and $40
for youth (18 and younger).
For more information visit
www.sistersfolkfestival.org/
tickets/.
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