Idaho sues feds over sage grouse restrictions

BOISE - Idaho Gov. Butch Otter and the state Legislature on Friday filed a lawsuit over the Obama Administration’s sage grouse ruling, even though it found that endangered species protections for the sage grouse were “not warranted.” The lawsuit contends the process behind amendments to federal land-use plans aimed at protecting the birds imposed unprecedented and unnecessary restrictions on Idaho farmers and ranchers, sportsmen, recreationists, employers and others. “We didn’t want an ESA listing, but in many ways these administrative rules are worse,” Otter said. Otter and GOP legislative leaders contended that the federal government has wrongly ignored Idaho’s own efforts to prevent the bird from being listed as an endangered species. The Interior Department said Tuesday it decided to deny protections for the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act. The same day, the agency released final changes to federal land-use plans in 11 Western states designed to protect the bird’s habitat. In Idaho, about 10.5 million acres are designated as either core or important sage grouse habitat. The lawsuit, filed in U.S. District Court in Washington, D.C., alleges the federal government violated the law by failing to complete the federal planning process in an open and transparent manner, or to complete a necessary analysis of the newly ordered land-use restrictions.