The California Department of Fish and Game is moving to cancel this year's Sage Grouse hunting season in eastern Lassen County after wildfires have ravaged much of the area's pristine sagebrush habitat. Audubon California supports this action, and is actually calling on the Fish & Game Commission to cancel hunting throughout all of Lassen County. Back in 2010, Dept. of Interior declined to place the Greater Sage Grouse on the endangered species list, instead ruling that the listing was "warranted but precluded," meaning that it certainly met the criteria, but that other priorities took precedent. Later in 2010, Audubon California unsuccessfully pushed the California Fish & Game Commission to halt Greater Sage Grouse hunting in the state, given that the federal government had declared the bird eligible for ESA listing. Now with this loss of habitat, the bird is going to face an even greater struggle to survive.
