GOP bill would require feds to defer to states on grouse management for 6 years

摘要

Colorado Sen. Cory Gardner (R) today filed legislation that would allow states at least six years to develop their own conservation plans for two species of sage grouse before the bird can be listed for protection under the Endangered Species Act. The bill, titled the "Sage-Grouse Protection and Conservation Act," mirrors in some respects legislation Gardner filed last year while a member of the House that would have delayed federal ESA listing of the greater sage grouse and the Gunnison sage grouse by a decade. The bill would allow states to create and implement a "state-specific" management plan for the two species of grouse in the 11 Western states with greater sage grouse habitat, but only if the states chose to do so. Rep. Chris Stewart (R-Utah) is expected to file a similar bill in the House tomorrow, sources said.