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September 4, 2015 CapitalPress.com 3 Ranchers applaud $211 million No Clean Water boost to sage grouse protection Act permit needed for Klamath drain By ERIC MORTENSON Capital Press PORTLAND — Southeast Oregon rancher Tom Sharp has a ground-level way to judge whether greater sage grouse are responding to hab- itat improvement work on his land. The birds, a candidate for listing under the federal En- dangered Species Act, have spooked his horse three times in two months. They flush at the last moment, and his horse’s spinning reaction the first time sent Sharp tumbling. Anecdotally, at least, “On my ranch we’re seeing sage grouse recovery,” Sharp said. Stacy Davies of Roaring Springs Ranch, also deep in the state’s southeast corner, says the same thing, and has data to prove it. The ranch’s resident wildlife biologist, Andrew Shields, has docu- mented a 25 percent increase in sage grouse on the ranch’s 250,000 acres of private rangeland in the past couple years. That’s the story U.S. Agri- culture Secretary Tom Vilsack and the USDA’s Natural Re- sources Conservation Service want to get across: Voluntary, collaborative efforts to im- prove sage grouse habitat are working. At a media briefing Aug. 27 in Portland, Vilsack an- nounced the USDA will pro- vide $211 million more in farm bill funding for Sage Grouse Initiative programs through 2018. The new round of funding, called SGI 2.0, includes $100 million for conservation ease- ments, in which landowners are paid not to till sage grouse habitat but can still graze livestock. Vilsack said $93 million will be allocated for habitat restoration work, and $18 million for technical as- sistance to ranchers and other landowners. Improving habitat on pri- ‘Managing for good ecosystem health, for good grazing practices — that’s reasonable.’ By MATEUSZ PERKOWSKI Capital Press — Tom Sharp Southeast Oregon rancher vate land is critical because it accounts for an estimated 40 percent of sage grouse range in 11 Western states. Produc- ers frankly believe the work they’re doing — such as re- moving Western juniper trees and invasive grasses, marking fences to prevent in-flight col- lisions and keeping livestock out of grouse breeding areas at critical times — should keep the bird off the endan- gered species list. Producers and other land- owners worry a listing would drastically restrict farming, ranching, logging, mining and energy development in the West. Some refer to the poten- tial impact as “the spotted owl on steroids.” In his Portland appearance, Vilsack noted the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has au- thority over endangered spe- cies listings but added, “We’ll keep our fingers crossed.” Nonetheless, many people see the voluntary work on private land as a model for future action on endangered or threatened species. So far, 1,129 ranches in 11 states are working to conserve 4.4 mil- lion acres of grouse habitat, according to NRCS. Oregon ranchers have set the standard. Working with local soil and water conserva- tion districts, more than 100 landowners have signed Can- didate Conservation Agree- ments with Assurances, or CCAAs, with U.S. Fish and Wildlife. They agree to carry out habitat work and in return are sheltered from additional Eric Mortenson/Capital Press Southeast Oregon rancher Tom Sharp, shown in this 2014 photo, said ranchers recognize that collaborating with federal agencies on Greater sage grouse is their best move. U.S. Agriculture Sec- retary Tom Vilsack has announced that his agency plans to spend more than $200 million over the next three years on programs to protect greater sage grouse, regardless of whether the bird receives federal protections. Jerret Raffety/Rawlins Daily Times via AP, File regulation for 30 years, even if the birds are listed as endan- gered. Ranchers support extend- ing the program through 2018. Brenda Richards, a Southern Idaho rancher and president of the Public Lands Council, said the Sage Grouse Initiative has been a “win-win for livestock producers and the grouse.” John O’Keeffe, president of the Oregon Cattlemen’s Association, said funding and expertise from NRCS has proven to be a “fantastic part- nership.” And Sharp, even though joking about grouse spooking his horse, said ranchers sup- port the program. “The ranchers out here, I think they get it,” Sharp said. “It’s good business judgment, it’s their best protection.” Requirements such as removing juniper trees and controlling invasive species improve rangeland for live- stock in addition to improving habitat for sage grouse, Sharp said. Work such as marking fences and keeping cattle out of leks at critical times is not “onerous,” he said. “Managing for good eco- system health, for good graz- ing practices — that’s reason- able,” Sharp said. Draining water from the Klamath Irrigation Project into the Klamath River doesn’t re- quire a Clean Water Act permit, a federal appeals court ruled. In 1997, the Oregon Wild environmental group filed a legal complaint against the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the project, for allegedly violating the Clean Water Act. The group claimed that run- off from farms stored in Lower Klamath Lake was a pollutant that couldn’t be spilled into the Klamath River without a CWA permit. Because this water was pumped into the Klamath Straits Drain — a man-made channel that flows into the river — Or- egon Wild contended it was a “point source” of pollution. In 2012, the lawsuit was dis- missed by a federal judge who held that the system is allowed to operate without a permit un- der a U.S. Environmental Pro- tection Agency rule that governs transfers between navigable waters. That decision has now been upheld by the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, albeit for dif- ferent legal reasons. The 9th Circuit held that the Klamath Straits Drain is an im- provement of a naturally occur- ring waterway that predated the Klamath Irrigation Project and historically moved water from the lake to the river. Since the drain simply re- turns water to the Klamath River that originated from it, the transfer does not involve “meaningfully distinct” wa- terways and thus requires no Clean Water Act permit, the ap- pellate court said. The 9th Circuit’s decision is good news for irrigators — if the court had ruled that a CWA permit was required, it could have had repercussions for other irrigation systems that rely on drain canals, said Dave Filippi, an attorney who represented the Oregon Water Resources Congress. “It would obviously be a huge financial and administra- tive burden,” he said. While the opinion is hearten- ing, the legal reasoning is based on the Klamath Straits Drain previously being a natural fea- ture, Filippi said. Because the ruling does not touch on the legality of EPA’s water transfer rule, there’s still uncertainty about whether the 9th Circuit would find that reg- ulation valid, he said. “That may be left for another day.” William Carpenter, attorney for Oregon Wild, said his client is still deciding whether to re- quest an “en banc” review of the decision by a broader panel of 9th Circuit judges. If a Clean Water Act per- mit were required in this case, it would be unlikely to create major new burdens for small irrigators, Carpenter said. “It’s only a parade of hor- ribles for dischargers who are putting large amounts of pollu- tion in the waterways,” he said. Since the Klamath ruling is fact-specific regarding the “historic interconnectivity” of the Klamath Straits Drain, it’s unlikely to have much prec- edential value for other cases, Carpenter said. “I really don’t see how it can be used to apply to other situations.” However, there is a case un- folding in the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals that bears on the legality of the EPA’s water transfer rule, he said. Washington’s drought leaps to ‘extreme’ One-third of the state goes from bad to worse in a week By DON JENKINS Capital Press Don Jenkins/Capital Press Goats graze on dry grass in Washington state, where 85 percent of the state is in an “‘extreme drought,” the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Aug. 27. Just a week earlier, 51 percent of the state was in extreme drought. The U.S. Department of Agriculture reports that 60 percent of the state’s pastures are in “poor”’ or “‘very poor” condition. drought, the next lowest cate- gory. The scope of the drought far surpasses Washington’s two most recent statewide droughts. In 2001, extreme drought hit 6 percent of the state. In 2005, 14 percent was in extreme drought. Washington and Oregon saw rain Friday, but it wasn’t a gentle transition, according to the National Weather Service. Parts of Western Washing- ton received more than an inch of rain Friday and Saturday. Precipitation totals are expect- ed to be much less in Eastern Washington and winds gusts could increase the risk of fires spreading. The National Interagency Fire Center reported Thursday that 12 large wildfires covering 732,608 acres are burning in Washington. The largest wild- fire, the Okanogan Complex 11 miles northwest of Omak, has burned 261,650 acres, surpass- ing last summer’s 256,108-acre Carlton Complex, which was also in Okanogan County. ROP-32-52-2/#17 Washington’s drought con- tinues to deepen and spread, with “extreme” conditions now covering 85 percent of the state, a 34 percent leap over one week ago, the U.S. Drought Monitor reported Aug. 30. The drought also has grown more severe in Oregon, particu- larly in the northeast. Extreme conditions increased to 67 percent from 50 percent of the state in the past week. Idaho and California were little changed from the week before. Some 46 percent of California is in an “exceptional drought,” the highest classifica- tion. Nevada is the only other state with exceptional drought conditions, at 15 percent of the state. Idaho is experiencing ex- treme drought over 29 percent of the state, a 1 percent increase over last week. The drought especially worsened in Eastern Washing- ton, where wildfires, including the largest in state history, are burning hundreds of thousands of acres. For the first time, the entire state from the Cascades to Ida- ho is categorized as in an ex- treme drought. Last week, there was a gap between extreme conditions in Central and Eastern Wash- ington. With streams and pre- cipitation measurements set- ting record lows, the gap has been bridged, according to the Drought Monitor, a partnership of the U.S. Department of Ag- riculture, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the University of Nebras- ka-Lincoln. Extreme drought also pre- vails on the Olympic Peninsu- la, South Puget Sound and the central coast. The rest of the state — the Interstate 5 corridor and the southwest and north- west corners — is in a “severe” 36-4/#4x