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Administration relaxes sage grouse rules

The Trump Administration is relaxing Obama-era rules designed to protect the sage grouse.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke says the administration will offer states flexibility in how they choose to protect the bird and also will loosen restrictions on energy development in sage grouse habitat.

The move is the latest chapter in an ongoing fight between environmentalists, who have urged stronger protections for sage grouse habitat across the West, and many ag and energy industry groups, who believe the Obama administration’s approach was far too rigid and hampered economic growth.

The recommendations include identifying new habitat boundaries for the sage grouse and giving states the power to set sage grouse population targets in protected areas.

North Dakota Senator Heidi Heitkamp says she’s pleased the new flexibility will support jobs and the economy as well as sage grouse habitat, adding that farmers and ranchers are the first conservationists on these lands.