By JOEL ASCHBRENNER 

H&N Staff Reporter

September 22, 2010

   The commissioners on Tuesday signed a resolution opposing the Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife’s proposed Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Assessment and Strategy.  

   Land use worries

   Commissioner John Elliott said the assessment could lead to Bureau of Land Management lands — mostly in Lake, Harney and Malheur counties — being set aside to protect the bird. This could hamper the development of wind energy projects and could limit land for livestock grazing on BLM lands.

   Elliott compared the sage grouse in Eastern Oregon to the spotted owl in Western Oregon, where large areas of timberland were closed to logging to protect the endangered owl’s habitat.

   “The spotted owl has come to roost in Eastern Oregon, and it’s called the sage grouse,” Elliott said earlier this month.

   Dave Budeau, ODFW’s upland game bird coordinator, said the ODFW’s assessment recommends areas to be set aside to conserve greater sage grouse habitat, but could not make those recommendations mandatory.

   “The Department of Fish and Wildlife cannot tell the BLM what to do with BLM land,” he said.

   Earlier this month, the Association of Oregon Counties asked the ODFW to reconsider its draft of the greater sage grouse conservation assessment and strategy.

   The ODFW is seeking public input on the 190-page assessment and strategy document and is holding a public briefing Sept. 30 in Bend.