Control of the U.S. Senate could be determined by ... the greater sage grouse?

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

Fox News: Rare Western bird known for mating dance could decide who controls Senate in Nov.http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ng-dance-could-decide-who-controls-senate-in/http://www.foxnews.com/politics/201...ng-dance-could-decide-who-controls-senate-in/

DENVER – An obscure, chicken-sized bird best known for its mating dance could help determine whether Democrats or Republicans control the U.S. Senate in November.

The federal government is considering listing the greater sage grouse as an endangered species next year. Doing so could limit development, energy exploration, hunting and ranching on the 165 million acres of the bird's habitat across 11 Western states.

Apart from the potential economic disruption, which some officials in Western states discuss in tones usually reserved for natural disasters, the specter of the bird's listing is reviving the centuries-old debates about local vs. federal control and whether to develop or conserve the region's vast expanses of land.

Two Republican congressmen running for the U.S. Senate in Montana and Colorado, Steve Daines and Cory Gardner, are co-sponsoring legislation that would prevent the federal government from listing the bird for a decade as long as states try to protect it.

A bird that inhabits a total of 165 million acres "endangered"? Really??

The really funny thing? Two of Congress' most environmental-movement indebted members are supporting the bill. Sen. Mark Udall (D-Colorado) and Sen. John Walsh (D-Montana) say they "don't want a listing for the grouse" either, and "would rather give states a chance to protect the bird."

Translation: Udall, Walsh and all the Democrats are scared to death of the "reactionary voter" in November. This could be a landslide.

 

[Revmitchell]

They only list them as endangered so they can control the land. It is evil.

 

[Crabtownboy]

How many grouse are in that area. If it is 1.5 billion I would say they are not in danger. If it is, say, only half a million, they might well be in danger as that would mean there is only 1 grouse for every 312 acres.

What has caused the population decline of the grouse?

When did the decline begin?

Has the trend reversed?

 

[thisnumbersdisconnected]

They only list them as endangered so they can control the land. It is evil.

Yep, that's it exactly.

Estimates are for job losses of somewhere between 5,000 and 31,000 jobs if the protective order is enacted, and land that has been used for grazing and ranching for over 100 years in the same families may no longer be allowed to put to that use. It's criminal. Additionally, the government announced last month it will spend $32 million over the next ten years to help localities preserve the bird.

The irony is, the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) does not consider the species endangered at all, but does classify local populations as "at risk." That makes them a "near endangered" species but not in danger of extinction. They've declined form 16 million to about 500,000 over the last 100 years, and has a lot of territory to range on. so have a lot of other species. No where does God say we are to preserve every single species extant during our time on Earth. That assumption on the part of the environmental groups is ludicrous.

That fact alone makes this nothing more than a political ploy.

 

[exscentric]

How many grouse are in that area. If it is 1.5 billion I would say they are not in danger. If it is, say, only half a million, they might well be in danger as that would mean there is only 1 grouse for every 312 acres.

What has caused the population decline of the grouse?

When did the decline begin?

Has the trend reversed?

Google might find you your answers :tongue3: