Government will issue emergency order to save endangered sage grouse

For the first time, Canada’s environment ministry Environment Canada will issue an emergency order to protect an endangered species, a rare Prairie bird called the greater sage grouse.

On Tuesday (September 17) Environment Minister Leona Aglukkaq announced the order will be issued in the coming months.  It will impose restrictions to protect the habitat of the sage grouse on provincial and Crown lands in the western Canadian provinces of Alberta and Saskatchewan.

Fewer than 150 greater sage grouse remain in Alberta and Saskatchewan, the two Canadian provinces where they are found, Environment Canada estimates. (Photo: CBC)

“Through a combination of stewardship measures we are addressing the imminent threats to the Greater Sage-Grouse,” said Minister Aglukkaq in a press release. “We will be working with provinces and stakeholders over the coming months to implement these measures.”

The announcement comes after environmental groups represented by Ecojustice took the government to court in an effort to force it to issue an emergency order to protect the bird.

“It’s a move in the right direction, but it’s unfortunate that it took a series of legal challenges to force the federal government into living up to its mandate under the Species at Risk Act,” said Melissa Gorrie, staff lawyer at Ecojustice in a press release.

“We have yet to see when – or even if – the emergency order will be implemented and whether it will provide real, meaningful protection for these prairie birds and their critical habitat.”

More information:
Environment Minister’s press release – Government of Canada taking action to protect the Greater Sage-Grouse – here
CBC News – Endangered sage grouse to be protected by emergency order – here
CBC News – Ottawa can’t claim cabinet secrecy in sage grouse fight – here
Ecojustice – Conservation groups cautiously optimistic about Greater sage-grouse announcement – here