Concerns have been raised over a bird that ranges across the American West which continues to delay federal oil and gas lease sales – five months after Interior Secretary Sally Jewell said the Obama administration had found a way to balance drilling and conservation.
The US Interior Department has said it will defer the sale of almost 60,000 acres of leases which were nominated by companies in eastern Montana as the agency works on new policies for greater sage grouse.
More than eight million acres of leases were previously deferred in Colarado, Utah, Nevada, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota and Wyoming.