If increasingly destructive wildfires in the Great Basin can't be stopped, the sage grouse population will be cut in half over the next three decades, scientists say. A report released Thursday by the U.S. Geological Survey comes just ahead of a court-ordered Sept. 30 deadline faced by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to decide whether sage grouse need protection under the Endangered Species Act, writes AP reporter Keith Ridler. Experts say such a listing could damage Western states' economies.

"The sagebrush steppe and sagebrush ecosystem are in trouble," said Matt Brooks, a fire ecologist with the USGS and one of the report's authors. The study also identified potential ways to avert sage grouse declines by classifying areas for their resilience to disturbance and resistance to invasive species such as cheatgrass, and then applying suitable strategies. Public land managers have already been doing that, but the USGS report could fine-tune those efforts. You can read Ridler’s full report here.