After grouse protections rejected, land-use plans become focus in fight over Western bird

Before the applause faded from the U.S. government's announcement that there would be no endangered species protections for the greater sage grouse, the criticism began over wide-reaching federal conservation plans meant to protect the bird's habitat across 11 Western states. The land-use plans were released Tuesday after Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said additional federal protections weren't needed for the ground-dwelling bird that's seen its habitat shrink due to oil and gas drilling, grazing and other human activity. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans outline measures to help sage grouse across 67 million acres of public lands throughout the West, including 12 million acres of prime habitat where strict limits on oil and gas limits will be enforced. Federal lands make up more than half the bird's habitat. Many of the same state officials who cheered Jewell's announcement have previously said the new BLM conservation plans were overly restrictive, particularly with oil and gas drilling. Their next step is to try to bring those federal conservation plans in line with their own. "This doesn't end the discussion of where we're going to be," Montana Gov. Steve Bullock said after Jewell's announcement...more