[ad_1]
The Department of the Interior has been working to amend Sage Grouse protection since June 2017, when former secretary, Ryan Zinke, signed an order asking federal and state governments to strengthen " communication and collaboration … with the common goal of keeping "Sage-Grouse without hindering" local economic opportunities ", according to the Bureau of Land Management.
The effort was aimed at changing the land use guidelines throughout the West that had been put in place under the Obama administration in 2015 to protect the habitat of the island. 39; bird.
Under Zinke, the Interior Ministry asked eleven states that they thought changes needed to be made to the 2015 plans, and seven said they felt it should be there. have changes, according to BLM. The ministry's working group recommended that the Greater Sage-Grouse not be protected under the Endangered Species Act and suggested changes to land use guidelines in states stating that the Sage-Grouse is not protected under the Endangered Species Act. they felt that the plans should be changed.
The states covered by the new Sage-Grouse plan for the interior are Oregon, Colorado, Idaho, Utah, Wyoming, Nevada and northeastern California.
Representative of the House Committee on Natural Resources, Raul Grijalva, a Democrat from Arizona, described the changes as "devastating work on our environment" in a statement.
"As part of its ongoing campaign to divest public lands to fossil fuel companies, this administration is canceling protections against Sage-Grouse that many stakeholders have created together during a long process of deliberation" said Grijalva. "It seems clear that the clients of Acting Secretary David Bernhardt have more to gain than anyone from this review."
Ministry of Interior officials responded by saying that the new policy showed that state and federal governments could work together to protect wild birds and not hinder economic development.
"Since the beginning of this effort, all partners have emphasized the need to conserve Sage-Grouse and avoid classifying the species as threatened or endangered," said Brian Steed, Director. BLM's Policy and Program Assistant. "We also share a commitment to conservation that does not endanger communities in the West and balances regulation with access."
Public calendars show that Bernhardt attended at least three Sage-Grouse staff meetings, including at least one with staff members who contacted IPAA on the issue or met with the group representatives.
In a letter of March 2018, the IPAA and other groups expressly thanked Bernhardt for the cuts in the rules of the Interior and indicated that they were eager to work with the company. 39, agency on the review of Sage grouse land use policies.
A spokesman for Bernhardt said in a statement that he had fully complied with his recusal agreements, and some advocates of the energy sector claimed that such regulatory reductions were part of what Trump was elected for.
Western Values' deputy project director, Jayson O'Neill, said the Trump administration had "broken its agreement with the West" by adopting these changes.
"The changes were rigged from the start, at the request of the same interest groups and oil and gas groups that Bernhardt represented as a lobbyist, while ignoring the concerns of the former Western governors and the more elusive. half a million votes that had asked them to honor the original agreement president, "said O. Neill in a statement.
Scott Bronstein, Curt Devine, Drew Griffin and CNN's Audrey Ash contributed to this report.
[ad_2]
Source link