Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced at a ceremony yesterday outside Denver that the greater sage grouse will not be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. Jewell also announced final approval of the federal grouse plans that amend 98 BLM and Forest Service land-use plans to incorporate grouse protections that buffer the bird’s prime breeding habitats from oil and gas development, hardrock mining, transmission lines and wind turbines (Greenwire, Sept. 22).
The federal plans establish primary habitat management areas and general habitat management areas. The 10 million acres of proposed mining withdrawals cover designated “sagebrush focal areas” — a subset of the primary habitat management areas that are considered “essential for the species’ survival,” and which the agencies will “offer the highest protections in these anchor areas,” according to the plans.
Source: Interior proposes banning new mining on 10M sage grouse acres | WyoFile
