II 

113TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 2575 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report on the status 

of greater sage-grouse conservation efforts, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 9, 2014 

Mr. WALSH (for himself, Mr. TESTER, and Mr. UDALL of Colorado) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Environment and Public Works 

A BILL 

To require the Secretary of the Interior to prepare a report 

on the status of greater sage-grouse conservation efforts, 

and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Sage-Grouse Account5 ability and Private Conservation Act of 2014’’. 

6 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

7 Congress finds that— 

8 (1) pursuant to the court-approved work sched9 ule described in the Joint Motion for Approval of 


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1 Settlement Agreement and Order of Dismissal of 

2 Guardians Claims entitled ‘‘In Re Endangered Spe3 cies Act Section 4 Deadline Litigation’’ (D.D.C. 

4 2011), not later than September 30, 2015, the Sec5 retary is scheduled to issue a decision on whether to 

6 proceed with listing the greater sage-grouse as a 

7 threatened or endangered species under the Endan8 gered Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

9 (2) the Federal Government, through programs 

10 of the Department of the Interior and the Depart11 ment of Agriculture, has invested substantial funds 

12 on greater and Gunnison sage-grouse conservation 

13 efforts to avoid the greater and Gunnison sage14 grouse being listed as threatened or endangered spe15 cies under the Endangered Species Act of 1973 (16 

16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

17 (3) State wildlife management agencies have 

18 prepared, and as of the date of enactment of this 

19 Act are in the process of implementing, greater and 

20 Gunnison sage-grouse conservation plans to com21 plement the conservation efforts of the Federal Gov22 ernment; 

23 (4) private investment in conservation efforts, 

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1 share conservation easement programs, has been sig2 nificant; 

3 (5) through a combination of Federal, State, 

4 and private efforts, significant conservation progress 

5 is being made, and further progress will be made fol6 lowing full implementation of State management 

7 plans and new Federal conservation programs; and 

8 (6) farmers, ranchers, developers, and small 

9 businesses need certainty, and further clarity on the 

10 likelihood of a listing decision will provide that cer11 tainty. 

12 SEC. 3. DEFINITION OF SECRETARY. 

13 In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec14 retary of the Interior. 

15 SEC. 4. GREATER SAGE-GROUSE REPORTING REQUIRE16 MENT. 

17 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 15, 

18 2014, the Secretary shall submit to the appropriate com19 mittees of Congress a report on the status of greater sage20 grouse conservation efforts. 

21 (b) CONTENTS.—In the report required under sub22 section (a), the Secretary shall include— 

23 (1) a description of public and private programs 

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1 ernment agencies, relating to greater sage-grouse 

2 conservation; 

3 (2) a description of State management plans, 

4 including plans that have been announced but not 

5 yet implemented; 

6 (3) a description of Bureau of Land Manage7 ment plans, or plans by any other land management 

8 agencies, relating to greater sage-grouse conserva9 tion; 

10 (4) in accordance with subsection (c), a descrip11 tion of the metrics that, at the discretion of the Sec12 retary, will be used to make a determination of 

13 whether the greater sage-grouse should be listed as 

14 threatened or endangered under the Endangered 

15 Species Act of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.); 

16 (5) any outcome under the programs, expendi17 tures, or plans referred to in paragraphs (1) through 

18 (3) that can be measured by the metrics described 

19 in subsection (c); and 

20 (6) any recommendations to Congress for legis21 lative actions that could provide certainty to farm22 ers, ranchers, developers, and small businesses and 

23 could assist in the conservation of the greater sage24 grouse. 


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1 (c) REPORTED METRICS.—The metrics referred to in 

2 subsection (b)(4) may include— 

3 (1) the quantity of acres enrolled in sagebrush 

4 and habitat protection in conservation programs es5 tablished under title XII of the Food Security Act 

6 of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3801 et seq.) or other conserva7 tion programs of the Department of Agriculture, in8 cluding conservation easements, land purchases or 

9 swaps, vegetation management or habitat enhance10 ment programs, and fuels management programs; 

11 (2) data on nonfire related habitat restoration 

12 efforts, including native, nonnative, and mixed seed13 ing efforts; 

14 (3) data on mine reclamation and subsequent 

15 restoration efforts intended to restore greater sage16 grouse habitat; 

17 (4) data on conifer removal; 

18 (5) data on presuppression fire efforts, includ19 ing— 

20 (A) the number of acres associated with 

21 fuels management programs; and 

22 (B) the number of miles associated with 

23 fire breaks; 


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1 (6) data on habitat restoration, including 

2 postfire restoration efforts involving native, non3 native, and mixed seeding; 

4 (7) data on structure removal, power line bur5 ial, power line retrofitting or modification, fence 

6 modification, fence marking, and fence removal; 

7 (8) for livestock and rangeland management, 

8 data on allotment closure and road closure; 

9 (9) for travel management, data on road and 

10 trail closure and trail rerouting; 

11 (10) data on greater sage-grouse translocation 

12 efforts, including the number of greater sage-grouse 

13 translocated, the age of each translocated greater 

14 sage-grouse, and the sex of each translocated greater 

15 sage-grouse; and 

16 (11) any other data or metric the Secretary 

17 may examine in making the decision on whether to 

18 list the greater sage-grouse as a threatened or en19 dangered species under the Endangered Species Act 

20 of 1973 (16 U.S.C. 1531 et seq.). 

21 SEC. 5. AGRICULTURAL LAND EASEMENTS. 

22 (a) IN GENERAL.—Section 1265B(b)(2)(C)(i) of the 

23 Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 3865b(b)(2)(C)(i)) 

24 is amended— 


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1 (1) by striking ‘‘GRASSLANDS’’ and inserting 

2 ‘‘IN GENERAL’’; and 

3 (2) by inserting ‘‘and land with greater or Gun4 nison sage-grouse habitat of special environmental 

5 significance’’ after ‘‘significance’’. 

6 (b) CONSIDERATIONS.—Section 1265B(b)(3)(B) of 

7 the Food Security Act of 1985 (16 U.S.C. 

8 3865b(b)(3)(B)) is amended— 

9 (1) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ after the 

10 semicolon at the end; 

11 (2) in clause (ii), by striking the period at the 

12 end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

13 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

14 ‘‘(iii) maximizing the protection of 

15 greater or Gunnison sage-grouse habitat.’’. 

Æ 


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