Such a classification could jeopardize energy development and ranching while forcing a federal solution rather than a local one — reminiscent of the economic fallout from endangered listing of the northern spotted owl.
The listing is not what any of the 11 impacted states want, said Kathleen Clarke, chairwoman of the Utah Governor's Sage Grouse Working Group.
In a legislative interim meeting earlier this week, Clarke updated state lawmakers on efforts made so far to craft a locally driven plan to conserve the species, which has suffered drastic declines in population due to myriad threats.
In March 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said the species warranted being listed, but the designation was precluded because of a backlog of other species with higher priority.
The delay in the designation has given states a new deadline of 2014 to prove to the federal agency that conservation efforts on a state-by-state basis are sufficiently protective. After a one-year progress review period of the affected Western states, the agency will make a decision in 2015. KSL
