Getting your player ready...
CHEYENNE — A lot of Westerners are watching whether the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service is about to pursue Endangered Species Act protection for the greater sage grouse.
A finding is expected by week’s end, and the oil-and-gas, livestock and wind-energy industries — to name the bigger interests concerned — all have an enormous stake in whatever the agency decides.
An endangered listing would be “absolutely devastating” by requiring sage grouse to be considered ahead of virtually any development in most of Wyoming, said Ryan Lance, a deputy chief of staff to Gov. Dave Freudenthal.
