Wildlife researchers mull protection for sage grouse under Endangered Species Act
<p>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 I…
DENVER — The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is asking Indian tribes, government agencies and others to submit information about conservation efforts for the greater sage grouse.
The service said Monday it needs the best data possible to make a decision on whether the bird warrants protection under the Endangered Species Act.
Congress has barred the federal government from spending money on rules to protect the bird, but the Fish and Wildlife Service says it is still bound by a court order to reach a decision by September 2015 on whether a listing is warranted.
If wildlife managers determine the bird is heading toward possible extinction, they would be unable to intervene because of the spending restriction.
Greater sage grouse range across 11 Western states and two Canadian provinces.