subscribe
feed
by
cy4676
,
Posted to
Fishing Buddy
on 01/30/2012 7:43 PM
|
"Quote"
|
"Quick Reply"
| 
An advocate for North Dakota’s wildlife said it’s time for state agencies to quit working at cross purposes, with one trying to preserve habitat for sensitive species while another leases oil rights in the middle of the same habitat.
Mike McEnroe, who heads legislative matters for the state Wildlife Society chapter, said an example is the state Game and Fish Department’s work to conserve sage grouse habitat to keep the bird off the federal Endangered Species list at the same time the state Department of Trust Lands plans to lease minerals in the area.
He said the state needs a strategic plan to protect natural and other resources instead of rushing to lease as much land as it can as quickly as possible.
“We need to do it right instead of fast,” McEnroe said.
He’s asked the school lands board to withdraw state-owned minerals on several land parcels that are located in a sensitive area of the Little Missouri National Grasslands from its Feb. 7 lease auction.
On Wednesday, he added more tracts to the list. The same day, the Game and Fish Department offered its own, similar list of parcels for special consideration when the Board of University and School Lands meets Thursday.
Together, they’re asking the state to remove or consider removing 5,340 acres from 73,000 acres of state school land minerals scheduled for auction.
Gov. Jack Dalrymple said he’s open to the idea, but he said most of the acres that are up for lease have already been leased and are up again because they’ve expired.
One tract on both lists also is in the grasslands, in prime range for bighorn sheep, a species the Game and Fish Department has been managing and nurturing for decades, and two more nearby are alongside the Little Missouri River.
Land Commissioner Lance Gaebe said two additional tracts Game and Fish wants considered for removal are in Golden Valley and Bowman counties in the same area where it, along with the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, is striving to sustain habitat for sage grouse before its numbers decline to the point the bird has to be placed on the federal Endangered Species list.
Another five tracts on McEnroe’s “removal” list are in Mountrail County bordering the Lostwood National Wildlife Refuge. McEnroe said the tracts should be withheld until the state and the USFW can figure how to mitigate any impact.
McEnroe said his chapter submitted a wildlife report to state agencies earlier this month, recommending the state develop an overall plan for oil development and that state agencies start communicating with each other.
He said it’s difficult for the public to even identify sensitive school lands when, in this case, the auction consists of 73,000 acres and 15 pages of legal descriptions.
If nothing else, McEnroe said he hopes the right people will start talking.
“Some good will come of this if we get a bigger discussion and awareness of it,” he said.
Share and Save This ForumTopic
Digg
Facebook
MySpace
del.icio.us
StumbleUpon
Start a New Topic in "ND Politics - Sportsman & Conservation Issues in North Dakota