Grouse

In this Sept. 15, 2014 photo, ecologists Jon Kehmeier, left, and Nate Wojcik inspect a female sage grouse captured at night at the future site of the 1,000-turbine Chokecherry-Sierra Madre wind farm outside Saratoga in south-central Wyoming. Efforts to conserve a struggling species of grouse that ranges across the Western U.S. are having far-reaching effects on the region’s energy industry as the Obama administration decides whether the bird needs more protections. Sales of leases on 8.1 million acres of federal oil and gas parcels - an area larger than Massachusetts and Rhode Island combined - are on hold because of worries that drilling could harm greater sage grouse, according to government data obtained by The Associated Press. The U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s delay on the parcels underscores just how much is at stake for an industry that finds its future inextricably intertwined with a bird once known primarily for its elaborate mating display. (AP Photo/Mead Gruver)