Share
This week Sally Jewell, Secretary of the Department of the Interior (DOI), declined to place the Greater Sage Grouse on the Endangered Species list, stating that unprecedented cooperative, voluntary, conservation actions by advocates, state governments and the private sector had sufficiently increased the bird's population and protected its habitat. In a related action, the DOI also cordoned off nearly 10 million of acres of public land as sage grouse habitat and prohibited any economic activity on the land, such as mining or fracking.
NAR has expressed concern about listing the Greater Sage Grouse as endangered because of the vast amount of land and property owners who would be impacted and supports the decision not to list the species as endangered. However, NAR also has concerns about prohibiting any economic activity on 10 million acres of public land because of the negative economic impacts such a withdrawal would have on adjacent communities and land owners.