Conservation

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) on Monday signaled its intention to revise its mitigation policy to a state-supported landscape-level model for the greater sage grouse that was established last year (see Daily GPI,Sept. 22, 2015).

Efforts by western states and the energy industry to enhance habitat protections for the greater sage grouse should benefit from the recently unveiled U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) Natural Resource Investment Center, said Secretary Sally Jewell.

The Pennsylvania Supreme Court said it would a hear a case that challenges the way the state manages oil and natural gas development on its publicly-owned forest land and how revenue from those operations can be allocated.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) erred in spring 2014 when it listed the lesser prairie-chicken (LPC) as a “threatened” species, a U.S. District Court judge in Texas ruled. FWS failed to properly consider efforts implemented by states to protect the bird and failed to follow its own rules when arriving at the listing designation, he said.

The Obama administration is signaling support to innovate the venerable Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would, among other things, more engage the states — a move that comes as Congress considers overhauling the 40-year-old law to take some authority away from federal agencies.

The Obama administration is signaling support to innovate the venerable Endangered Species Act (ESA) that would, among other things, more engage the states — a move that comes as Congress considers overhauling the 40-year-old law to take some authority away from federal agencies.

Seven conservation groups have filed suit against the Department of Interior (DOI) and its U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) after regulators declined to add two rare wildflowers that only grow in the Uinta Basin in Colorado and Utah to the Endangered Species Act (ESA).

The nation’s largest conservation bank — and a first for greater sage grouse — has been established in central Wyoming to provide credits that would allow energy development in other parts of the state.

The lesser prairie-chicken has been listed as "threatened" by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), the agency said Thursday. The declaration comes with a rule intended to limit the impact of the listing on landowners and businesses, such as those in the oil and gas industry.