Lawsuits challenge limits on industry that aim to save Sage Grouse

Officials in Idaho and Nevada and some mining companies sued the federal government over new restrictions on mining, energy development and grazing that are intended to protect a declining bird species across millions of acres of the American West. The cases are the first to contest the Obama administration’s declaration this week that it can protect the greater sage grouse without hobbling the region’s economy. Some Republicans and critics from the mining and energy industries contend that the restrictions imposed instead of Endangered Species Act protections for the bird were equally onerous and would stifle development. Idaho Gov. C.L. “Butch” Otter said Friday that federal officials wrongly ignored local efforts to protect the bird, leading him to sue in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C. “We didn’t want a (threatened or endangered) listing, but in many ways these administrative rules are worse,” the Republican governor said in a statement. A similar lawsuit was filed in Nevada by an attorney for two counties and some mining companies...more