Project launched to keep sage grouse off threatened list
By Las Vegas Sun
The Obama administration is launching an effort to accelerate protection of sage grouse along the Nevada-California line with $31 million in spending commitments through 2024 to help ranchers and others improve grouse habitat.
A top official in the Agriculture Department told the Associated Press that Friday’s announcement may represent the best, last chance to keep the Nevada and California population of the bird off the list of threatened species.
Jason Weller, chief of the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service, says that while the multiagency effort targets California and Nevada, it ultimately will benefit the overall habitat of the greater sage grouse in 11 western states.