Habitat

Lawmakers on the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment & Public Works debated with regulators and each other over the best way to protect the sage grouse, and to possibly avoid listing the bird on the federal Endangered Species Act (ESA).

A pair of rules proposed by the Interior Department’s U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) that would list as endangered the gunnison sage grouse, which is found in Colorado and Utah, and designate 1.7 million acres of critical habitat for the bird under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), would cost the two states more than $290 million annually, according to a drafteconomic analysisreleased by FWS last week.

Central New York Oil and Gas Co.’s (CNYOG) proposed MARC-I Hub Line Project, which would deliver additional Marcellus Shale and Trenton Black River natural gas to Northeast markets, may not be needed, according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).

Canada’s National Energy Board (NEB) has approved TransCanada Corp. unit NOVA Gas Transmission Ltd.’s (NGTL) construction and operation of its C$307 million Horn River Project, which would help carry growing supplies of shale gas to market.

Greater sage grouse habitat is declining at a sharp rate in the West, and aggressive steps need to be taken to shift away natural gas and oil development, according to a peer-reviewed study.

Greater sage grouse habitat is declining at a sharp rate in the West, and aggressive steps need to be taken to shift away natural gas and oil development, according to a peer-reviewed study.