Senators Hatch and Lee Comment on Gunnison Sage Grouse Decision

Press Release

Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee released the following joint statement on the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant the Gunnison Sage Grouse protected status under the Endangered Species Act (ESA):

"Once again, the federal government has put forward new regulations that will make life difficult for Utahns and disrupt the Utah economy. As a result of this decision, even more land on which Utahns have depended for generations to support their families will become subject to onerous restrictions imposed by bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. Worst of all, this listing was simply unnecessary. As our own Director of Utah's Division of Wildlife Resources has said, federal protections will actually make it more difficult to help the bird, by undermining the voluntary efforts of landowners, local officials, and environmental groups that have successfully maintained the Gunnison Sage Grouse population and conserved their habitat for nearly two decades. Despite these new regulations, we will continue to fight to protect the rights of states to manage wildlife within their borders."

Senators Hatch and Lee have been actively involved in the debate over the need for ESA protections of the Gunnison Sage Grouse. They have co-written a letter alongside five other senators and representatives from Utah and Colorado requesting an extension of the comment period of the proposed rules for the Gunnison Sage Grouse in order to get local communities involved. The Greater Sage Grouse--a cousin to the Gunnison Sage Grouse--has a larger presence in the West and has been nominated for ESA protections. A listing of the Greater Sage Grouse would be even more devastating than today's listing of the Gunnison Sage Grouse. Both senators cosponsored legislation earlier this year that would require the secretaries of Agriculture and the Interior to provide assistance to states in developing their own conservation and management plans to protect and recover sage grouse species.

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