Forest Service to change sage grouse protections in 5 states

BOISE, Idaho (AP) — Plans for protecting sage grouse in five Western states are being changed in ways that will conserve habitat while allowing ranchers to maintain their livelihoods, federal officials said Thursday.

The U.S. Forest Service said the changes allow for greater flexibility and local control, but details of the plans involving Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Colorado aren't being made public until Friday.

"The Forest Service continues to promote our multiple use mission while ensuring conservation of greater sage grouse habitat," said Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue in a statement. "We are sharing the stewardship of the lands with western state governors — their extensive participation throughout this process was the key to landscape-scale conservation that aligns our policies and practices across local, state, and federal jurisdictions."

Environmental groups blasted the plan based on the Forest Service's three-bullet-point summary released Thursday ahead of Friday's final environmental impact statement, which are typically long and complex documents.

Western Watersheds Project said the plan guts protections for sage grouse created under the Obama administration in 2015.

"This is part of a broader pattern of trying to turn over control of public lands and sensitive wildlife resources to state and local governments that are often diametrically opposed to conservation," said Erik Molvar, the group's executive director.

Sage grouse are chicken-sized, ground-dwelling birds considered an indicator species for the health of vast sagebrush landscapes in the U.S. West that support some 350 species of wildlife.

Between 200,000 and 500,000 sage grouse remain in 11 Western states, down from a peak population of about 16 million. Experts generally attribute...