Sage Grouse
The Department of the Interior announced it will open a public comment period and assess options for amending the 2015 plan amendments for conservation of the greater sage grouse in 11 western states.Ethan Lane is the Executive Director of the Public Lands Councils and NCBA's Federal Lands, and he says that the action opens a door to potentially provide much needed relief to ranchers.
"And they're going to make a determination about what the best path forward is whether that is through multiple plan amendments to change those plans from 2015 and correct some of those errors to make sure that stakeholders and groups like ranchers aren't inappropriately impacted."
Lane says they want to hear the concerns from the western Ranchers and other stakeholders that are impacted.
"So they're they're looking at these different options and they're doing it in a formal way so the folks understand that this is a process that is moving forward this isn't just a kind of behind the barn discussion. They are out front they're filing paperwork and they want to hear from from ranchers and Sage Grouse country about just exactly how these are malfunctioning and what they need to do to fix them."
This is an issue that affects most ranchers, and the final outcome will be important to the entire beef industry in the west.
Environmental groups like the current plan, which was ushered in by the Obama Administration, and believe the Trump Administration is now pushing for change with an energy first agenda.