Sage

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) on Friday proposed listing the bistate sage grouse as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), which would afford special protections to 5,000 birds along the California-Nevada border. The proposed listing comes as federal regulators consider whether the entire western sage grouse population should be protected under the ESA, a decision that would have a huge impact on energy operators.

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.

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 this week.

Oneok Partners LP said it plans to invest $440 million in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin to buy a natural gas liquids (NGL) processing facility and to upgrade related infrastructure.

The Colorado Division of Wildlife (DOW) is partnering with Questar Corp. to perform research on greater sage grouse habitat in northwest Colorado and south-central Wyoming. The research is intended to identify ways to minimize energy development impacts on grouse habitat, which has been in decline for years. The bird, whose habitat stretches across the western states, is being considered for listing as threatened or endangered under the federal Endangered Species Act, which also would impact energy development across the West (see Daily GPI, Dec. 6, 2007). The partnership will build on research conducted since 2005 by DOW and the University of Idaho. Salt Lake City-based Questar, which focuses its gas exploration efforts in the Rocky Mountains, will fund the partnership for an undisclosed amount.