Billings Gazette reported: The governors of Wyoming and Montana say a federal plan to protect the greater sage grouse is far more restrictive than Western states’ own programs to help the struggling species. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and Montana Gov. Steve Bullock told the U.S. Bureau of Land Management this week to rewrite major portions of a draft federal policy for protecting the ground-dwelling bird.
The governors submitted comments to the agency’s state directors in separate letters, both dated July 29, outlining their positions on the draft that was released May 28.
Mead said the BLM is wrong to portray livestock grazing as a threat to sage grouse. He said the agency incorrectly claims that determination would have no economic repercussions.
“This conclusion defies common sense,” Mead wrote.
Policies that could hurt Wyoming’s agricultural industry were supported in the federal plan by faulty analyses and preferentially pieced-together research, Mead said.
“The agencies cannot simply present conclusions based on conjecture and refuse to acknowledge likely adverse economic impacts because the exact extent of those impacts is not yet known,” Mead wrote. “The best estimates of impacts must be determined and included.”
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