The Interior Department said Tuesday that the greater sage grouse, a ground-dwelling bird whose vast range spans 11 Western states, does not need federal protections following a costly effort to reverse the species' decline without reshaping the region's economy.
The fight over whether to list the bird as endangered or threatened recalled the battle over the spotted owl 25 years ago, when federal protection greatly impeded the logging economy. The Obama administration and affected states have committed hundreds of millions of dollars to saving the sage grouse without Endangered Species Act protections that many argued would threaten the oil and gas industry and agriculture.