Idaho sues U.S. over sage-grouse habitat restrictions

By Eric M. Johnson and Steve Gorman
Sept 25 (Reuters) - Idaho filed suit on Friday challenging
new federal land-use restrictions designed to safeguard the
greater sage-grouse, breaking with other western states that
backed sweeping measures to preserve the bird's habitat in lieu
of Endangered Species Act protections.
The lawsuit, which names Republican Governor C.L. "Butch"
Otter and the Republican-controlled state legislature as
plaintiffs, accuses the Obama administration of a lack of
transparency in devising its sage-grouse conservation strategy.
"We didn't want the (Endangered Species Act) listing, but in
many ways these administrative rules are worse," Otter said in a
statement accompanying the lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District
Court in Washington.
The complaint names U.S. Interior Secretary Sally Jewell,
Agriculture Secretary Thomas Vilsack and several top-ranking
federal land managers as defendants.
Jewell, joined by a bipartisan group of governors from
Colorado, Wyoming, Montana and Nevada, announced on Wednesday
that the administration had decided against listing the grouse
as threatened or endangered. ID:nL1N11S133
The need for a listing and tough land-use constraints such a
move would entail had been averted by success of a less rigid
set of measures worked out by state and local governments,
scientists and private interests over the past five years, she
said.
Supporters touted the collaboration as a milestone in
efforts to save the grouse and its vanishing sagebrush habitat
while allowing activities such as energy development, mining and
ranching to co-exist with the chicken-sized prairie fowl.
But Otter said revisions to land-use plans for federal
property constituting over half the bird's habitat were adopted
without adequate analysis or proper input from state and local
authorities in Idaho.
The plight of the grouse, a key indicator species for the
ecosystem of the American prairie, has pitted conservation
groups against oil and gas drilling, wind farms and cattle
grazing in one of the biggest industry-versus-nature
controversies in decades.
Known for its elaborate mating rituals, the sage-grouse once
ranged by the millions across a broad expanse of the western
United States and Canada. They are now believed to number
between 200,000 and 500,000 birds in 11 western states and
southern Alberta.
Interior Department spokeswoman Jessica Kershaw declined
comment on pending litigation, but added: "We believe the plans
are both balanced and effective - protecting key sage-grouse
habitat and providing for sustainable development."