Bi-state sage grouse considered for threatened status, again

By SCOTT SONNER
Associated Press

RENO, Nev. (AP) — Federal wildlife officials are again considering whether a sage grouse species deserves protection under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service announced Thursday it is reopening a review of the status of the bi-state sage grouse, which is found only along the California-Nevada line. It’s the third time the agency contemplates protecting the hen-sized cousin of the greater sage grouse. Conservationists blame “political gamesmanship” for the two decades of regulatory limbo. A judge ruled last spring that the Trump administration had illegally withdrawn an earlier proposal to list the bird as threatened.