WINNEMUCCA - Visiting one-on-one with Steve Weaver, one of three conservation specialists hired through the governor's office, is an enlightening experience and one which he hopes all in our area who care about the public lands will take the time to do. Weaver's specific job is to work with area stakeholders to develop and implement projects aimed toward preventing endangered species listing for the Sage Grouse, and by so doing, help improve public lands and rangeland health.
He recently introduced himself to the Humboldt County Commissioners and explained his role in the framework of the entire Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem program structure. Weaver will be branching out to make contacts with other individuals and agencies that have a stake in the question of Sage Grouse conservation and rangeland health.
Weaver said, "I'm the guy on the ground in this area; I work with all stakeholders." Weaver said anyone who has a proposal for a conservation or public land improvement project should contact him. "I assure you, I will take it seriously, and work with any stakeholder that comes to me."
Weaver brings a broad background and varied experience to the job. He is originally from Nevada and did his undergraduate work at the University of Nevada Reno in wildlife management and renewable natural resources. He's worked in Nevada with BLM, private ranches and for 11 years with the Nevada State Parks Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
He has an international master's degree in wildlife management and has worked in range and wildlife management with groups like Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation as well as the Forest Service and BLM in Nevada, Idaho, and Alaska.
Even with all that education and experience, Weaver said he comes up against frustratig situations when politics and emotion trumps biology. "Any 25 year-old starlet holds more credibility in some circles than those who have spent a lifetime studying and working with the public lands." He added, "That's why proof of what's actually occurring out here is so important."
"I'd like to put my experience and talents to work here in the local area," said Weaver, who emphasized that though he'll be working primarily through the conservation districts and weed districts, "I'll work with anyone who comes to my attention."
Weaver said all sectors of the state effort for Sage Grouse conservation work together toward the objective of preventing endangered species listing. The Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Program is a partnership of state and federal agencies, local entities, and interested stakeholders.
At the top of the organizational chart is the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council appointed by the governor in January of this year. That council has been meeting since February. The Council has representation from agriculture and ranching, conservation and environment, energy, general public, local government, mining, sportsmen and tribal nations. The governor added three federal agency state directors as "ex-officio" members of the ecosystem council: US Fish and Wildlife state director Ted Koch, BLM state director Amy Lueders, and US Forest Service state director Bill Dunkelberger.
Under the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council, the Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team has five full-time specialists who, among other things, will work to identify projects relating to wildfire prevention and habitat conservation. They will work with the Ecosystem Council to prioritize projects and develop the funding for them through a "mitigation credit system bank." Rather than denying all projects on the public lands, the mitigation credit system can provide a way for a "disturbance" caused by a project to be "mitigated." The mitigation would be in the form of payment for or participation in a priority public lands project by the individual or company proposing any activity that would cause a disturbance.
Weaver is a member of the next level in the governor's program structure. Working with Nevada Conservation Districts, he is one of three conservation specialists who, on a daily basis, will gather and confirm "on the ground" information and assist and implementat prioritized projects. Weaver will be based in Winnemucca, at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office at 1200 East Winnemucca Boulevard. The other two specialists will be based in Elko and Ely.
Commissioner Jim French asked Weaver if he would be weighing in on all of the allotment evaluations and all of the actions proposed by BLM and Forest Service through the National Environmental Protection Act (NEPA).
Weaver confirmed he will be very involved, particularly with the BLM Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) process, saying "I will be supplying information and one of my tasks will be to verify 'on the ground' data and give feedback, positive or negative to that EIS process."
Weaver emphasized to the commissioners, "That's what I would request from any of you; if you have any information to improve on-site data, that's what I need." Weaver noted there is a broad spectrum of information and data available through BLM and Nevada Division of Wildlife and other entities, but he said "the people on the ground, the ranchers, are often the ones who have the key data." He explained why that is, saying, "A biologist is going to go out there and see sage grouse on the ground on in a leck at point "x" in time, but over the course of a year, no given biologist can be on the ground every day of the week and that's where the local ground-up effort is really the most viable thing we have out there."
Weaver expressed the opinion that not everything is as cut and dried as it's sometimes found in the textbooks. He said, for example, "If Sage Grouse are observed out there in their leck, right amongst cattle or horses, we need to know that because it's significant data." He added, "There are important studies; it's all important, but the refinement comes from 'on the ground'."
Weaver emphasized that it's essential that as many of those with first-hand knowledge get involved because decisions and mandates that come from the top down have no flexibility. He added that site-specific information is better than "cookbook biology" that presumes that the recipe for ecosystem health is the same everywhere. "From the bottom up is a much better model," he said.
Weaver noted that the governor's formation of the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council acknowledges that the Sage Grouse issue is much larger than just one species. "What's good for the Sage Grouse is good for other animals and for the land.," he said.
When Weaver receives site-specific information he can document it in a way that will hold up under scrutiny. He has a GPS-linked camera that stamps each photo with the date and an exact GPS location. Weaver is inviting all stakeholders to "Get in contact with me, I can go out and verify information and then feed that data back where it can do some good."
Weaver can be reached at the Winnemucca NRCS office at 623-5025, on his cell phone 775-461-6229 or email sweaver@dcnr.nv.gov.
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