prairie sage grouse

<font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">maybe belated</font><div><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">primary 5 22 bernhardt IPAA lobbying fuckery
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://moneytrails.org/issue/western-energy-alliance/">https://moneytrails.org/issue/western-energy-alliance/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">...</font></div><div><h3 style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder; background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Western Energy Alliance is Closely Aligned With the Trump Administration’s Interior Department</font></span></h3><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Western Energy Alliance Is “Driving The Agenda” Of Donald Trump’s Interior Department</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Western Energy Alliance Is </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">“Driving The Agenda Of The Interior Department” By “Rewriting Policies That Hollow Out Protections For Endangered Species.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">”</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> “But critics charge that Western Energy Alliance does more than take a few bullets and beat back critics of Trump’s environmental strategy. Behind the scenes, it is driving the agenda of the Interior Department, rewriting policies that hollow out protections for endangered species, while helping oil and gas companies gain easier access to federal lands and unravel rules that take a cautious approach to drilling.” [</span><i style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Yahoo News</i><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> </span><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/habitat-for-sale-an-oil-and-gas-group-calls-the-tune-at-the-interior-department-215244528.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">02/18/19</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">When Western Energy Alliance Asked The Trump Department To Reform </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 102, 0);">Sage Grouse Plans</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">, Interior “Accepted 13 of 15 Of Sgamma’s Recommendations.”</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> “</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The summer after Trump entered office, Alliance president Sgamma wrote to the Interior Department to complain about the sage grouse. In her letter, <b>Sgamma claimed that sage grouse management would cost more than 9,000 oil and gas jobs and impede $2.4 billion in economic growth.</b> After examining correspondence between the Interior Department and industry lobbyists, the Western Values Project found that Trump officials accepted 13 of Sgamma’s 15 recommendations to alter sage grouse protection. When the administration released a revised sage grouse plan a year ago,<b> Zinke sent an internal memo that reversed the Obama administration’s focus on developing oil and gas outside of grouse habitat</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><b>.”</b> [</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Yahoo News</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> </span><a href="https://news.yahoo.com/habitat-for-sale-an-oil-and-gas-group-calls-the-tune-at-the-interior-department-215244528.html" style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">02/18/19</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Western Energy Alliance Directly Recommended Sage-Grouse Policies to Interior Officials. </span><b>Western Values Project “obtained a leaked document showing that the Western Energy Alliance…was behind most of the recommendations that made it into the Secretary’s report.” [</b>Western Values Project,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> </span><a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/western-values-project-opens-investigation-in-response-to-leaked-document-revealing-industry-influence-of-interiors-sage-grouse-review/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">accessed 11/25/19</a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder; background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Western Energy Alliance Has Access To Donald Trump’s Interior Department </font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In An Email To Members, Western Energy Alliance President Kathleen Sgamma Bragged About Her Access To Interior. </font></span></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Sgamma Bragged That </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">WEA Was “The Only Stakeholder Group” That Zinke Met With On A Trip To Colorado.</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> [WEA President’s Message via Yahoo News, </span><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5095814-Zinke-Stops-by-WEA.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">accessed 11/25/19</a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Sgamma Said That </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Zinke “Expressed Appreciation” For WEA “Taking A Few Bullets That Come His Way On Controversial Policy Issues</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">.” </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> [WEA President’s Message via Yahoo News, </span><a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/5095814-Zinke-Stops-by-WEA.html" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">accessed 11/25/19</a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Western Energy Alliance Supports the Trump Interior Department’s </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Rollback Of Important Oil And Gas Safeguards</span></font></span></p></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/western-values-project-opens-investigation-in-response-to-leaked-document-revealing-industry-influence-of-interiors-sage-grouse-review/">https://westernvaluesproject.org/western-values-project-opens-investigation-in-response-to-leaked-document-revealing-industry-influence-of-interiors-sage-grouse-review/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><div class="basic-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 50px 0px 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="basic-heading-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 40px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 1080px;"><div class="postmeta" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 14px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="news-post-category" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 3px; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/category/news/" title="View all posts in News" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">News</a> <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/category/press-releases/" title="View all posts in Releases" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Releases</a></span><b> August 21, 2017 </b>by <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/author/jayson/" title="Posts by Jayson O'Neill" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jayson O'Neill</a></font></p></div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 35px; line-height: normal; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; overflow-wrap: break-word; max-width: 860px; letter-spacing: -0.02em; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Western Values Project opens investigation in response to leaked document revealing industry influence of Interior’s sage-grouse review</font></h1></div></div><div class="basic-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 85px 40px 20px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 820px;"><h4 style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.25em; margin: 0px; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; overflow-wrap: break-word; text-align: center;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">FOIA filed in preparation for litigation after documents show oil and gas lobbyists shaped recommendations from Secretary Zinke</font></span></h4><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The Western Values Project (WVP) <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WVP-DOI-FOIA-20170817-01-Sage-Grouse.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">filed</a> a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking correspondence between industry representatives and staff at the Department of the Interior who worked on Secretary Zinke’s sage-grouse review. The request comes after WVP obtained a leaked document showing that the Western Energy Alliance (WEA), an oil and gas industry trade group, was behind most of the recommendations that made it into the Secretary’s report.</b></font></p><p class="p1" style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Read the leaked document <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA_7-19-2017-1.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">here.</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">The memo from WEA is nothing short of an industry wish list, with <b>15 recommendations for the sage-grouse review team. Analysis shows that 13 of those requests were granted by Secretary Zinke’s handpicked sage-grouse review team</b>. A side-by-side comparison can be found <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA-Industry-report-comparison-chart.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">here.</a></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“Despite pleas from Western governors, stakeholders, farmers, ranchers, scientists and conservationists, it appears Secretary Zinke was only listening to lobbyists from the oil and gas industry during his sage-grouse review</b>. When you compare Secretary Zinke’s recommendations to the oil and gas industry’s wish list, it becomes clear that he is doing the bidding of these Washington, D.C. special interests,” said <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jayson O’Neill, Deputy Director of the Western Values Project</span>. “This is a dangerous trend that is becoming a pattern for Secretary Zinke – offer lip-service to the West while granting private industry unfettered control of our public lands.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Western governors from both political parties <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/secretary-zinke-continues-to-give-handouts-to-industry-ignores-western-voices-with-sage-grouse-order/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">reached</a> out to Secretary Zinke urging him to preserve the plan they spent years developing, including a request that the department not move forward with population targets and captive breeding. Those requests were ignored.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">If the Department of the Interior fails to fulfill the FOIA request within a timely manner, WVP will file suit.</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref jul 217 orig email:</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">from sgamma</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA_7-19-2017-1.pdf">http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA_7-19-2017-1.pdf</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref 2</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">side by side chart</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA-Industry-report-comparison-chart.pdf">http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA-Industry-report-comparison-chart.pdf</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ref 3</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><div class="basic-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 50px 0px 26px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><div class="basic-heading-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 40px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 1080px;"><div class="postmeta" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 14px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span class="news-post-category" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-right: 3px; font-weight: bold;"> <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/category/news/" title="View all posts in News" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">News</a> <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/category/press-releases/" title="View all posts in Releases" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Releases</a></span> August 7, 2017 by <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/author/jayson/" title="Posts by Jayson O'Neill" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jayson O'Neill</a></font></p></div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 35px; line-height: normal; text-rendering: optimizelegibility; overflow-wrap: break-word; max-width: 860px; letter-spacing: -0.02em; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Secretary Zinke continues to give handouts to industry, ignores Western voices with sage-grouse order</font></h1></div></div><div class="basic-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 85px 40px 20px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 820px;"><p class="p1" style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke released his <a href="https://www.doi.gov/sites/doi.gov/files/uploads/so3353_memo_coverletter_report_080717.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">review</a> of the greater sage-grouse conservation plan. The original conservation plan was implemented two years ago after extensive work and collaboration by a bipartisan group of Western stakeholders, including federal, state and local governments, as well as ranchers, farmers, sports groups, conservationists and industry representatives.</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; border: none; margin: 1.5em 0px 55px; padding: 0px 30px; position: relative; line-height: 2em;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: inherit;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">This order is another reckless decision made by special interests and Washington politicians behind closed doors – it is a clear giveaway to industry that undermines years of work by Western governors, communities and stakeholders,” <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">said Chris Saeger, Executive Director of the Western Values Project.</b> “These irresponsible changes will not only put this species at risk, but will jeopardize access to public lands and the outdoor economy that Western communities rely on. Secretary Zinke’s careless plan ignores bipartisan, science based results, and could well fast-track the greater sage-grouse’s listing as an endangered species.”</font></p></blockquote><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><b style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Background:</font></b></p><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">After years of work and cooperation by federal agencies, Western states and diverse stakeholders, a plan was released in 2015 to conserve habitat for the greater sage-grouse to avoid listing the bird under the Endangered Species Act. The Fish and Wildlife Service specifically <a href="https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2015/10/02/2015-24292/endangered-and-threatened-wildlife-and-plants-12-month-finding-on-a-petition-to-list-greater" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">cited</a> habitat preservation as the reason for removing the bird from consideration.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>This year, Republican Governor of Wyoming Matt Mead and Democratic Governor of Colorado John Hickenlooper sent <a href="http://www.denverpost.com/2017/06/04/donald-trump-greater-sage-grouse-ryan-zinke/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">two letters</a> to Secretary Zinke opposing changes to the plan. Neither letter has received a public response from the Secretary.</b></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Western Governors met with Secretary Zinke behind closed doors at their annual Western Governors Association meeting about the imperiled bird. Again, <a href="https://www.eenews.net/greenwire/2017/06/27/stories/1060056650" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">urging</a> the Secretary not to make wholesale changes to the plans. Those requests where ignored.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(242, 241, 239); box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; overflow-wrap: break-word; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Listing the bird under the Endangered Species Act would result in numerous lawsuits from both sides of the issue, and prohibit development across a wide swath of public land.</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-family: " small="small"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>15 times former clients of the acting Interior secretary got favorable </b>...https://www.kbzk.com › cnn-us-politics › 2019/03/05 › 1...</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-family: " small="small"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In July and August 2017, IPAA lobbyist Samantha McDonald emailed an Interior staffer about the agency issuing new guidance on maps related to sage grouse ...</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-family: " small="small"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-family: "><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">no lnx</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.kbzk.com/cnn-us-politics/2019/03/05/15-times-former-clients-of-the-acting-interior-secretary-got-favorable-decisions/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.kbzk.com/cnn-us-politics/2019/03/05/15-times-former-clients-of-the-acting-interior-secretary-got-favorable-decisions/</font></a></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">NEWS</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> </font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">By: <b>CNN </b>News  Posted at 6:56 PM, Mar 05, 2019 and last updated 6:47 PM, <b>Mar 05, 2019</b></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>As a former fossil fuels lobbyist who now leads the Interior Department, David Bernhardt has oversight of the industry he used to represent.</b></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">While Bernhardt has recused himself for a period of time from certain dealings with his former clients, he serves as one of the main architects of the Trump administration’s deregulation agenda that has benefitted energy companies — including some of Bernhardt’s former clients.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Recent Stories from kbzk.com</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Since Bernhardt joined the department in 2017, it has made at least 15 policy changes, decisions or proposals that would directly benefit Bernhardt’s former clients. In each case, the past clients shared comments or requests that the department’s actions have granted or aligned with, according to a CNN review.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In some cases, the former clients wrote letters addressed to Bernhardt about those issues or lobbied his colleagues before those colleagues met with Bernhardt on those matters, according to documents.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">President Donald Trump has said he will nominate Bernhardt to succeed Ryan Zinke as Interior secretary.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A spokesperson for Bernhardt said in a statement that he has fully complied with his recusal agreements, and some advocates for the energy industry argue that such regulatory rollbacks are part of what Trump was elected to do.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But some environmental groups charge that such decisions by Interior under Bernhardt amount to “favors” for his former clients.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>“We’re seeing a raft of favors both large and small being granted, everything from specific projects getting greenlights to larger policies that are either being rolled back from the Obama administration or moved forward in the Trump administration,”</b> said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, of the Center for Western Priorities, a conservation group that catalogued some of the Interior actions requested by Bernhardt’s former clients.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bernhardt, who has devoted himself to understanding the intricate details of environmental regulations, has bounced back and forth between government service and lobbying for industry groups over the course of his career.</font></span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>After working for a Colorado member of Congress in the 1990s, he joined a lobbying firm</b> and later held several positions at Interior from 2001 to 2009 during President George W. Bush’s administration, including as solicitor. Bernhardt left the department to head the natural resources law division of the firm Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck.</font></span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">When he re-entered Interior as its deputy secretary for the Trump administration, Bernhardt signed an ethics pledge that recused him from certain matters directly involving 26 former clients, including Halliburton Energy Services, water-supply company Cadiz, Inc., and the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">offshore-energy trade group National Ocean Industry Association. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The recusals for four of those clients have already expired, and the rest will expire in August.</span></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>An Interior spokesperson for Bernhardt, Faith Vander Voort, told CNN that his recusal agreements require him not to substantially engage “in any particular matter involving specific parties” related to his former clients for two years after his appointment. </b>That means Bernhardt cannot work on issues such as lawsuits, permits, grants or agreements that directly involve his former clients and generally cannot meet or communicate with those former clients during that time, unless he gets a waiver.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Vander Voort said any critics who suggest Bernhardt has crossed ethical lines with his former clients are either incorrect or deliberately misleading, adding that some may conflate acceptable types of interactions with the “particular matters” Bernhardt is recused from.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">His recusal list means former clients are lobbying officials around Bernhardt, according to a CNN review of emails and documents.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">For example, Bernhardt’s former client the Independent Petroleum Association of America repeatedly met with and emailed Interior officials about the sage grouse, a western bird that the Obama administration sought to protect with a plan that blocked oil and gas companies from building on much of the birds’ habitat.</font></span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">In July and August 2017<b>, IPAA lobbyist Samantha McDonald</b> emailed an Interior staffer about the agency issuing new guidance on maps related to s<b>age grouse</b> and the staffer responded that Interior was “working on it,</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">” according to emails obtained by the Western Values Project.</span></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Public calendars show Bernhardt attended at least three staff meetings related to the sage grouse, at least one of which included staffers who communicated with IPAA on the issue or met with the group’s representatives.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In a March 2018 letter, IPAA and other groups specifically thanked Bernhardt for Interior’s regulation rollbacks and said they looked forward to working with the agency on revising sage grouse land-use policies.</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In December, the Trump administration released a plan to amend the<b> Obama-era sage grouse protections </b>and open vast swaths of western land for mining and drilling.</font></span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>The IPAA also praised Bernhardt in a 2017 letter for helping to reform the National Environmental Policy Act and asked that Interior reinstate “categorical exclusions,” which allow the agency to streamline the analysis required to approve projects</b> that could affect the environment, which can save the energy industry time and money.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Bernhardt later authored a memo stating that categorical exclusions should be “fully and properly” considered before such reviews.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">A spokesperson for IPAA, Jeff Eshelman, said the association has not had any personal contact with Bernhardt since he joined Interior and that IPAA has lobbied Congress and administrations with these policy recommendations for decad</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">es.</span></font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Our policy positions have not changed, our outreach efforts have not changed based on who is in control of Congress or the Administration,” he said.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other Interior decisions that reflect comments or requests from Bernhardt’s former clients include the rescinding of Obama-era rule that set limits on hydraulic fracturing on federal land and the rollout of plans to expand offshore drilling.</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Some of the requests were highly specific. Bernhardt’s former client <b>Noble Energy,</b> for example, commented on an Interior proposal and said the time-period to submit certain documents related to safety systems during an application process should be extended from 60 days to 90 days. A final rule issued in 2018 included that extension.</font></span></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Interior also cleared the way for one of Bernhardt’s former client’s projects in California.</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Cadiz Inc., a water-supply company, proposed a pipeline running water from the Mojave Desert through land owned by the Arizona and California Railroad. The Obama administration blocked the project and stated that an 1875 law mandated that the land be used for railroads.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">But an Interior letter sent in 2017 to Scott Slater, Bernhardt’s former colleague at Brownstein Hyatt Farber Schreck and the CEO for Cadiz, disagreed and stated, “There is no evidence that the Cadiz project would interfere with continued use of the easement for railroad operations.”</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Myron Ebell, </b>the director of the Center for Energy and Environment at the Competitive Enterprise Institute, a free-market organization, argues such project approvals and regulation rollbacks have occurred not because of Bernhardt’s position in office but because of the Trump administration’s broader efforts to promote energy independence and growth.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Dave Bernhardt is not pursuing his agenda or that of any people he worked for as a lawyer. He’s pursuing the agenda President Trump won the election on and is implementing,” Ebell said.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Still, some Democratic lawmakers have expressed concerns about Bernhardt’s interactions with the energy industry.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">A letter by Rep. Raul Grijalva, who chairs the House Committee on Natural Resources, states more than 100 hours of official government time on Bernhardt’s schedule did not include descriptions or list the non-Interior attendees. The letter requests all calendars maintained by Bernhardt.</font></b></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Massachusetts) and Sen. Richard Blumenthal (</b>D-Connecticut) asked Interior’s inspector general to investigate Bernhardt’s involvement in proposals that would revise rules protecting the delta smelt, a California fish.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The New York Times reported that Bernhardt, while at Interior, has worked to strip away such rules, which are also opposed by his former client Westlands Water District, a state-chartered organization that represents farmers who want access to the river water where the fish dwells.</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Prentice-Dunn, with the Center for Western Priorities, said Bernhardt’s position at Interior marks another example in the Trump administration, in addition to Andrew Wheeler who heads the EPA, of a lobbyist ascending to lead a regulatory agency despite Trump’s campaign promise to “drain the swamp.”</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">“Bernhardt has spent his career trying to work the levers of power. Now he is in control of those levers,” Prentice-Dunn added.</font></div></div><div times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb" style="font-family: " small="small"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">----</font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://moneytrails.org/issue/independent-petroleum-association-of-america-ipaa/">https://<b>moneytrails.</b>org/issue/independent-petroleum-association-of-america-ipaa/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">follow the money trails ipaa:</font></div><div><h3 style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Other Interior Officials Have Also Met With IPAA</font></span></h3><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">FWS Director Nominee And </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Former Monsanto Employee </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Aurelia Skipwith Has Been Involved In</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Sage Grouse Protection Rollbacks</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> And Spoke At The IPAA.</span></font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Skipwith’s Calendars Show She Has Been Involved In The Rollback of Sage Grouse Protections And Spoke At The Independent Petroleum Association Of America (IPAA). “</span>According to her publically released calendars, <b>Skipwith has been deeply involved in the Trump administration’s rollback of habitat protections for the imperiled sage grouse and spoke at the oil and gas association Independent Petroleum Association of America’s (IPAA) regulators’ forum.”</b> [DailyKos, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/11/1884850/-Trump-Nominates-Former-Monsanto-Employee-as-Director-of-U-S-Fish-and-Wildlife-Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">09/11/19</span></a>]</font></p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">The IPAA Is A Former Client Of Interior Secretary David Bernhardt.  </span>“The IPAA is a former client of Secretary Bernhardt’s whose political director was caught on tape laughing about the connections and access they have within the Trump administration,” stated O’Neill.” [DailyKos, <a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/11/1884850/-Trump-Nominates-Former-Monsanto-Employee-as-Director-of-U-S-Fish-and-Wildlife-Service" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">09/11/19</a>]</font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Skipwith Sent Memos To FWS And The National Park Service Requesting Rules Regarding</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> Bear And Wolf Killings Be Reviewed. </span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">“I</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">n July 2017, Skipwith sent memos to the National Park Service and FWS requesting they</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> review rules that prevented hunters from killing bears and wolves using extreme techniques, like  baiting the animals with greasy doughnuts, ambushing mothers with pups in dens and shooting animals from boats while the bears are swimming,’</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> said O’Neill.” [DailyKos, </span><a href="https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2019/9/11/1884850/-Trump-Nominates-Former-Monsanto-Employee-as-Director-of-U-S-Fish-and-Wildlife-Service" style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">09/11/19</a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Current </span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Deputy Solicitor for Parks and Wildlife</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> Solicitor </span></span><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder; background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);">Karen Budd-Falen Met With The Oil Industry Lobbyists Who Helped “Rewrite” Obama-Era Sage Grouse Management Plans</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">On June 13, 2019, Karen Budd-Falen had a meeting with representatives from the Independent Petroleum Association Of America (IPAA).</span> In a calendar event titled simply, “Meeting,” Karen Budd-Falen met with people with the email addresses mmiller@ipaa.org and dnaatz@ipaa.org. [Karen Budd-Falen Calendar,<a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/10/Karen_Budd-Falen_printable_calendar_foia_SOL_2019.64_Nov_1_to_Jan_30_1_Redacted-1.pdf" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;"> <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">06/13/19</span></span></a>]</font></p><ul style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Mark Miller Is A Past Chairman Of IPAA And President Of Merlin Oil & Gas.</span> [IPAA.org,<a href="https://www.ipaa.org/mark-miller/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"> accessed 09/26/19</a>]</font></li><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Dan Naatz Is A Lobbyist For IPAA</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">.</span></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> [Senate Lobbying Disclosure Database,</span><a href="https://soprweb.senate.gov/index.cfm?event=getFilingDetails&filingID=B83784B4-68A4-4BAF-97E2-A8B052CA4669&filingTypeID=60" style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"> accessed 09/26/19</a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">IPAA’s Lobbyists Were “Integrally Involved In Rewriting Sage-Grouse Conservation Plans.” </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">“During the Trump administration, IPAA has been integrally involved in rewriting sage-grouse conservation plans. Documents obtained by the </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Western Values Project</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> indicate that IPAA lobbyists secured numerous meetings with key Interior Department officials, providing an entré for specific companies to give input into sage-grouse plans. In one instance</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">,<b> IPAA arranged phone calls for Chesapeake Energy, ConocoPhillips, and EOG Resources to ask BLM for specific revisions to sage-grouse maps</b></span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"><b>. </b>During the process of amending the sage-grouse conservation plans, IPAA submitted formal comments recommending specific policy changes.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 153, 0);"> It appears that certain IPAA recommendations — such as cutting requirements to offset habitat damage from development with conservation gains elsewhere — were accepted by the BLM</span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">, either partially or in full, as a part of the agency’s draft plans.” [Center For Western Priorities,</span><a href="https://medium.com/westwise/analysis-bernhardt-linked-oil-and-gas-companies-own-more-than-20-percent-of-all-oil-and-gas-47f5c3b5ba90" style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;"> <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">03/14/19</span></span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">]</span></font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Current Associate Deputy Secretary of the Interior James Cason Met With IPAA </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">After Rumors Of Bernhardt’s Nomination To Be Secretary Began To Circulate</span></font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Cason Served as Acting Deputy Secretary of the Interior until Bernhardt’s Nomination was Confirmed. </span>Rumors of Bernhardt’s nomination to Deputy Secretary began circulating in January 2017. Cason joined the Trump Administration as Associate Deputy Secretary on January 20, 2017, and served as Acting Deputy Secretary until David Bernhardt was confirmed in July 2017. [ProPublica, <a href="https://projects.propublica.org/graphics/beachhead" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">03/08/17</span></a>; <b><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;">Washington Post</span>,</b> <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2017/07/24/senate-confirms-interior-deputy-despite-conflict-of-interest-claims/?utm_term=.275ab2ebd549" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">07/24/17</span></a>]</font></p><ul style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 30px; margin: 0px 0px 30px 25px; padding: 0px 0px 0px 25px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><li style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">Cason’s “Task List” Included Meeting With IPAA.</span> February 17: “Asked to rescind the 113 Financial Assurance orders from small energy companies.” [<a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/4389567-DOI-Deputy-Secretary-Task-List-3-17-17.html#document/p19/a406782" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;">Cason Task List</a>;<a href="https://assets.bwbx.io/documents/users/iqjWHBFdfxIU/rL2bONoceiOY/v0" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"> Bernhardt Recusal Letter</a>;<a href="https://www.ipaa.org/about/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none; box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"> About IPAA</a>]</font></li></ul><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Interior Chief Of Staff Todd Willens </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">Met With IPAA</span></font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 25px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 27px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;">On April 26, 2018, Todd Willens had an external meeting with IPAA. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">They topics discussed at this meeting were</span><b style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> MBTA,</b><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);"> Mitigation, and the proposed removal of blanket 4(d). In addition to IPAA staff, this meeting included an</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> employee of Noble Energy, which is also on Bernhardt’s recusal list. </span><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">[Todd Willens Department Of Influence Profile, </span><a href="https://departmentofinfluence.org/person/todd-willens/" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: 600; outline: none; background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; touch-action: manipulation; transition: all 0.35s ease 0s;"><span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">accessed</span> <span class="te" style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px 0px 0px -0.225em; padding: 0px 0.15em; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; position: relative; display: inline-block; z-index: 9;">10/16/19</span></a><span style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245);">, Todd Willens Calendar, 04/26/18]</span></font></p><h3 style="background-color: rgb(250, 248, 245); box-sizing: inherit; line-height: 40px; margin: 0px 0px 0.5em; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat;"><span style="box-sizing: inherit; line-height: inherit; margin: 0px; padding: 0px; border-style: solid; border-width: 0px; background-repeat: no-repeat; font-weight: bolder;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">IPAA And Its Members Spend Millions On Campaign Contributions</font></span></h3></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://polluterwatch.org/center-environmental-science-accuracy-reliability-cesar" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: none;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://polluterwatch.org/center-environmental-science-accuracy-reliability-cesar</font></a></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The  </b><b style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Center of Environmental Science, Accuracy & Reliability also known as</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> CESAR </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">is a non-profit 501(c)(3) </span></b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">corporation that self-describes their purpose as to “use of data and the scientific method to ensure consistent application of environmental statutes throughout all industries and all sectors”. CESAR is also known as "Best Science," and maintains BestScience.org.</span></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font face="Times New Roman" size="4">
</font><div class="field field-name-body field-type-text-with-summary field-label-above"><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">CESAR functions both to publish ‘reports’ describing the regional threats on a <a href="http://www.bestscience.org/projects.html" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">range of species<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> as well as making arguments over the scientific description of species as subspecies vs. same species. They then use those reports and other outside documents to file lawsuits using the Endangered Species Act.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Initially established in 2008 as the Council for Endangered Species Act Reliability, CESAR rebranded in 201 as the Center for Environmental Science Accuracy and Reliability, keeping the same acronym.</b></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">All of the CESAR fundings come from contributions, gifts, grants, and donations. Their yearly revenue varies drastically from year to year. In <a href="http://nccsweb.urban.org/communityplatform/nccs/organization/profile/id/411647799/%20%C2%A0" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">2009<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, CESAR received $201,352 in revenue but a year later that dropped significantly to only $25,025. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Key Officers  (none of which are compensate):</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Craig Manson - Executive Director</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><a href="http://www.bestscience.org/about-us.html" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">Science Advisors<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>:</span> </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://polluterwatch.org/dr-rob-roy-ramey-ii" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">Rob Roy Ramey II</a>, PhD</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Robert M. Zink, PhD</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In addition, the acting director of the U.S. Department of the Interior, <a href="http://www.polluterwatch.org/david-bernhardt" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">David Bernhardt</a>, was a director of CESAR from <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3861664-David-Bernhardt-Financial-Disclosure-2014.html#document/p2/a357002" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">June, 2012<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" background-position="background-position" initial="initial" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background-image: url(" /></a> until <a href="https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/3862923-Bernhardt-Rescusal-Letter.html#document/p1/a357441" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">May, 2017<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" background-position="background-position" initial="initial" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background-image: url(" /></a>. When Bernhardt was nominated for the deputy secretary position at DOI in 2017, he left his position at the Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy & Reliability.</font></p></div></div></div><div class="field field-name-field-evidence field-type-text-long field-label-above"><div class="field-label" style="font-weight: bold; border: 2px solid rgb(0, 0, 0); padding: 0.5em; margin: 1em 0px; width: 640px; float: none; text-transform: uppercase;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">EVIDENCE: </font></div><div class="field-items"><div class="field-item even"><p class="rtecenter" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Arguments are <a href="https://earthfirstnews.wordpress.com/2012/08/02/petition-seeks-delisting-of-pacific-northwest-orcas/" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">"completely out of touch with current science"<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" background-position="background-position" initial="initial" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background-image: url(" /></a></font></span></p><p class="rtecenter" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">- Center for Biological Diversity </font></span></p><p class="rtecenter" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil and Gas Funding</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In <a href="http://conservativetransparency.org/basic-search/?q=center+for+environmental+science+accuracy+and+reliability&sf%5B%5D=candidate&sf%5B%5D=donor&sf%5B%5D=recipient&sf%5B%5D=transaction&sf%5B%5D=finances" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">2014<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, CESAR received $10,000 donation from DonorsTrust.</b> Since it’s founding its founding in <a href="http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/02/donors-trust-donor-capital-fund-dark-money-koch-bradley-devos/" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">1991<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, DonorsTrust has donated $400 million to more than 1,000 conservative and libertarian groups. Together with its sister group, Donors Capital Fund, they distributed nearly $120 million to 102 think tanks and action groups <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2013/feb/14/funding-climate-change-denial-thinktanks-network" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">skeptical of the science behind climate change<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> between 2002 and 2010.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In <a href="http://www.prwatch.org/files/ckf_2015_990.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; outline: 0px;">2015<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, the Charles Koch Foundation [<span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">bernhadt used to work there mojo]</span> donated $25,000 to CESAR.</b> The foundation is run by Charles Koch, the CEO of Koch Industries, a multibillion dollar corporation heavily involved in oil refinement and benzene production.</font></p><p class="rtecenter" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Oil and Gas Motivated Legislation</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Hookless Cactus</font></span></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">In <a href="http://www.bestscience.org/uploads/4/3/7/3/43733283/hookless_cactus-cesar_report-downsized.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">2012<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" background-position="background-position" initial="initial" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background-image: url(" /></a>, CESAR published a report that argued that (1) the three subspecies of Hookless Cactus don’t exist and there is only one species</span>, (2) the species is not in great threat (when considered one species) and therefore don’t require the current conservation efforts, and (3) the oil and gas industry’s fracking does not pose a threat to the Hookless Cactus. This goes directly against previous findings on the scientific warrant for subspecies classifications. They counter this point by (1) making counter claims and (2) arguing that because the scientists/professors who came to this conclusion either published on the topic or were general plant experts, they were either too biased or unqualified to make this opinion. It’s worth noting that the only scientist on the CESAR report was CESAR employee Dr. Rob Ramey, who has far less plant scientific background than any of the three critiqued scientists, never mind the difference in plant taxonomy experience. Still, he offered his own opinion on this matter and critiqued the decision of the three botanists that have long standing consultant agreements with the Department of the Interior.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Additionally, the Fish and Wildlife Service determined that areas with Hookless Cactus populations had to have 400 and 1000-foot setback areas around individuals. This poses a problem for oil and gas companies, because there is a large overlap between the Hookless Cactus range and fracking sites.</font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="http://polluterwatch.org/WESTERN-ENERGY-Alliance" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Western Energy Alliance</a>, a group of aligned oil and gas companies, held the Utah Basin Advisory Network Meeting in response to the Hookless Cactus setback rule. In the meeting, <a href="http://s3.documentcloud.org/documents/370522/wea-accomplishments.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">a Western Energy Alliance official stated<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, “On behalf of CESAR (the Center for Environmental Science, Accuracy, & Reliability), Dr. Rob Ramey has initiated a review of the various studies and materials that support the listing decision and FWS’ management policies. We hope that his findings will be useful as we continue to advocate against needlessly restrictive setbacks.”</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Interact <a href="http://%20https//ecos.fws.gov/ecp0/profile/speciesProfile?spcode=Q21I" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">here<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> with the current range of Hookless Cactus. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Sage Grouse</font></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);">CESAR has a long history of attempting to <a href="http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2015/10/04/028274" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">delist the Sage Grouse<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" background-position="background-position" initial="initial" background-size="background-size" background-repeat="background-repeat" background-attachment="background-attachment" background-origin="background-origin" background-clip="background-clip" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background-image: url(" /></a> </span>from the Endangered Species Act. Their efforts range from producing papers disputing oil and gas development’s harms on Sage Grouse to issuing <a href="http://http//www.bestscience.org/sage-grouse-reference-materials.html" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">reports<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> that criticized the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s The Sage Grouse Conservation Objectives Team Report (COT Report) as not “a scientific document” and “overstates some threats”. The same CESAR report has been slightly rewritten and put on the website of the Western Energy Alliance, an alliance of oil and gas companies.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"> In addition, the <a href="http://polluterwatch.org/WESTERN-ENERGY-Alliance" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">Western Energy Alliance</a> sources their conclusions to <a href="https://www.westernenergyalliance.org/sites/default/files/COT%20Challenge%20Exhibit%20A.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">reports<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> publised by Dr. Ramey in order to petition the Department of the Interior on Sage Grouse impact statements and land use plans. </font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><u>CESAR's Direct ties to Oil and Gas Industry in regards to the Sage Grouse</u> </font></p><p style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Head CESAR scientist Dr. Rob Ramey was paid $200hr to “<a href="http://elkocounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=508&meta_id=26602" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">analyze review and critique influential studies and reports on GRSG [greater sage grouse]<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>” by <a href="http://polluterwatch.org/WESTERN-ENERGY-Alliance" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">Western Energy Alliance</a>, American Exploration Mining Association, Colorado Mining Association, Independent Petroleum Association of America, The International Association of Drilling Contractors, Montana Association of Oil Gas & Coal Counties, Montana Petroleum Association, the Nevada Mining Association and the Petroleum Association of Wyoming</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><u><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Why the Sage Grouse Matters to the Oil and Gas Industry</font></u></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">On <a href="https://www.eenews.net/stories/1060055707" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">June 7, 2017<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>, Secretary of the Department of the Interior announced an official review on the 2015 Federal Sage Grouse Plan, which outlines the areas of protection the Sage Grouse is afforded.  This excited the oil and gas industry because of the large overlap in the land leased to oil and gas companies and the nesting areas for greater Sage Grouse.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><img alt="" src="https://polluterwatch.org/sites/default/files/u5284/85.jpeg" style="border: 0px; max-width: 100%; height: 256px; width: 340px;" /></font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/11/14/the-9-million-and-counting-chicken-fight-over-the-sage-grouse" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">Map <span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a>of the Sage Grouse habitat and current Oil and Gas Leases in southwestern Colorado. This is far from the only area with this type of overlap - with 10 other states containing Sage Grouse protected habitat.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">As of November 2014, there was <a href="https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2014/11/14/the-9-million-and-counting-chicken-fight-over-the-sage-grouse" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">$9 million<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> spent lobbying the 2015 Sage Grouse plan. This number does not included private efforts, such as the Western Energy Alliance’s <a href="http://elkocounty.granicus.com/MetaViewer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=508&meta_id=26602" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">peitition<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> of the Department of the Interior with $275,000 budget in 2014 to challenge the 2015 sage grouse plan.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">There is a <a href="https://www.westernenergyalliance.org/sites/default/files/Sage%20Grouse%20Economic%20Report%20-%20Final%20from%20Minuteman%20Press.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">large financial stake<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> in this for oil and gas companies to delist the Sage Grouse. When fighting the 2015 Sage Grouse plan, which ultimately passed, Western Energy Alliance claimed that the most conservative plan would have caused a reduction of $307 million in annual economic revenue, their mid-plan would cost $839 million in annual economic revenue and most restrictive plan would cost $5.6 billion in annual economic revenue.</font></p><p dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Conservationists are concerned for the Sage Grouse. <a href="https://wilderness.org/sites/default/files/legacy/Oil-and-Gas-Threaten-Sage-Grouse.pdf" class="ext" target="blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" style="text-decoration-line: none; font-weight: bold; outline: 0px;">Scientific studies<span class="ext" aria-label="(link is external)" extlink_s.png="extlink_s.png" px="px" center="center" no-repeat="no-repeat" width="width" height="height" padding-right="padding-right" style="background: url(" /></a> concluded that 44% of the most important habitat for Sage Grouse is at risk of energy development, with 9.1 million acres of sagebrush and 2.7 million acres of grassland within the sage-grouse range to be lost to oil and gas drilling in the coming years. </font></p><p class="rtecenter" dir="ltr" style="margin: 0px 0px 20px;"><span style="font-weight: 600;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Water Motivated Legislation</font></span></p></div></div></div></div></div><div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">=</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">320</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000">https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>A <span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">federal judge threw out</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/oil-and-gas" target="self" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">oil and gas</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">leases on nearly one million acres of</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="self" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">public lands</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">that are important habitat for the greater sage grouse, arguing that a</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump-administration" target="self" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Trump administration</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">policy that curtailed public input on the leases was "arbitrary and capricious."</span></b></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</span></b></font></div><div class="body js-expandable clearfix js-listicle-body css-listicle-body-2645367415" style="margin-top: -15px; line-height: 1.5;"><div class="body-description" style="clear: both;"><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-1" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" data-id="1" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem1"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">At the start of 2018, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) had issued a memo shortening the period for public comment and protest on oil and gas leases from 30 days to 10, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/sage-grouse-oil-gas-leases-federal-land_n_5e59e833c5b6450a30bebc9c?ri18n=true&guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuaHVmZnBvc3QuY29tL3RvcGljL2Vudmlyb25tZW50&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAAKY_5wc_yI8AD-aKGvmxuiEHi22ewjB-kyG0cGXtjy4MCKNyl39nNHNg33c5xa-mJHJLDr_XfC63CCyD01oLX5wH_BdH_3RPH5ud4cuP4eMtJIQ3Z_cOlz6jU3JmuJgcyGcHCmO9KcnaKeBv3Uqo00dJT333lhLDhD7MyeZPQx4" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Huffpost reported</a>. But U.S. Chief Magistrate Judge Ronald Bush ruled in Idaho Thursday that around $125 million worth of leases issued under the new policy be tossed out and the full 30-day comment period restored. In his <a href="https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/species/birds/greater_sage_grouse/pdfs/Sage-Grouse-174-Phase-One-Decision.pdf" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">decision</a>, Bush argued that BLM could not only consider the economic needs of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">fossil fuel</a> industries at the expense of all other concerns.</font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-2" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=2#rebelltitem2" data-id="2" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem2" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"If the words 'justice so requires' are to mean anything, they must satisfy the fundamental understanding of justice: that it requires an impartial look at the balance struck between the two sides of the scale, as the iconic statue of the blindfolded goddess of justice holding the scales aloft depicts," he wrote. "Merely to look at only one side of the scales, whether solely the costs or solely the benefits, flunks this basic requirement."</font></p><p /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-3" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=3#rebelltitem3" data-id="3" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem3"><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The lawsuit was brought by the </span><a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Center for Biological Diversity</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> (CBD) and the </span><a href="https://www.westernwatersheds.org/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Western Watersheds Project</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> in a bid to protect</span><b style="background-color: rgb(255, 204, 102);"> greater sage grouse</b><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"> habitat, </span><a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/climate-environment/2020/02/27/judge-voids-nearly-1-million-acres-oil-gas-leases-saying-trump-policy-undercut-public-input/" target="blank" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102); text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Washington Post explained</a><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">. The sage grouse, whose numbers have fallen from around 16 million to fewer than 500,000 because of disease and development, reflects the overall health of the Western sagebrush habitat that also houses hundreds of other species.</span></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>Bush's ruling tossed out five leases on more than 1,300 square miles — or more than 800,000 acres — of public lands in Nevada, Utah and Wyoming, according to HuffPost and <a href="https://thehill.com/policy/energy-environment/485133-judge-voids-almost-1-million-acres-of-oil-and-gas-leases-on-public" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">The Hill</a>. However, it could have implications for around 67 million acres of sage grouse habitat in 11 Western states.</b></font></p><p style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-4" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=4#rebelltitem4" data-id="4" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem4" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This is an enormous victory for greater sage grouse and hundreds of other animals and plants that depend on this dwindling habitat," CBD senior campaigner Taylor McKinnon said in a <a href="https://biologicaldiversity.org/w/news/press-releases/judge-voids-trump-oil-and-gas-lease-sales-nearly-1-million-acres-sage-grouse-habitat-2020-02-27/" target="blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">press release</a>. "The judge confirmed that it's illegal to silence the public to expand fossil-fuel extraction. It's a win for millions of acres of our beautiful public lands and a major blow to the Trump administration's corrupt efforts to serve corporate polluters."</font></p><p /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-5" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=5#rebelltitem5" data-id="5" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem5" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">The BLM said it was considering whether or not to appeal the ruling, according to The Washington Post. However, spokesperson Derrick Henry told The Washington Post that the agency remained committed to streamlining the leasing process.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"To do this, we have been working within our legal authorities to alleviate or eliminate unnecessary and burdensome regulations, while at the same time upholding public health and environmental protections, including sage-grouse conservation," Henry said.</font></p><p /></div><div class="rebellt-item col1" data-basename="particle-6" data-href="https://www.ecowatch.com/oil-gas-leases-public-lands-2645367415.html?rebelltitem=6#rebelltitem6" data-id="6" data-is-image="False" data-reload-ads="false" id="rebelltitem6" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><p /><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">However, environmental advocates have complained that, under the Trump administration, streamlining often comes at the expense of public participation. In one particularly ironic example last week, Democratic Congresspeople, activists and former government workers said that the White House's Council on Environmental Quality is making it harder to comment on its plans to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/trump-attacking-nepa-2644853997.html" target="self" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">restrict the National Environmental Policy Act</a>, itself a law designed to give communities a say in projects that might impact their local ecosystems. However, <a href="https://earthjustice.org/" target="_blank" style="text-decoration-color: rgb(82, 149, 70); line-height: 1.5;">Earthjustice</a> attorney Drew Caputo told The Washington Post that the administration's attempts to work around public input also often ended up flouting the law, leading to court defeats like Thursday's.</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">"This administration has been relentless in its efforts to cut the public out of public lands decision-making, starting in 2018," Western Watersheds Project staff attorney Talasi Brooks said in a press release. "The court wasn't fooled by the agency's efforts to disguise its intention to provide greater influence to extractive energies, and the sage grouse and 350 other sagebrush-dependent species will benefit from today's win."</font></p><p><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Correction. An earlier version of this article stated that a judge had banned oil and gas leases on nearly one million acres of public land. It has been updated to reflect the fact that he threw out existing leases rather than banning leasing generally.</font></p></div></div></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">12/18 predictably</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/greater-sage-grouse-2622600663.html">https://www.ecowatch.com/greater-sage-grouse-2622600663.html</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="" /><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">no lnx</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Feds Move to Slash Sage Grouse Protections For More Oil & Gas Development</b></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management published proposals on Thursday designed to roll back critical measures that protect the imperiled greater sage grouse on public lands in order to boost fossil fuel development and mining in the American West.</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The spectacular bird once numbered 16 million and roamed across 13 Western U.S. states and three Canadian provinces. But rampant oil and gas development and other factors have cut its habitat in half. Its population has significantly plunged to an estimated 200,000 to 500,000 individuals across 11 western states and southern Alberta.</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><b>In 2015, the charismatic bird saw a glimmer of hope with the Greater Sage Grouse Conservation Plan, which then-Interior Secretary Sally Jewell called a "truly historic moment</b>—one that represents extraordinary collaboration across the American West." A remarkable coalition of scientists, ranchers, environmental groups, extractive industries, federal agencies and state and local governments worked together to create a management plan for the keystone species.</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">
</span></div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">As the New York Times explained, that Obama-era effort to protect the sage grouse set out to ban or sharply reduce drilling in 10.7 million acres of its habitat.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But the Trump administration's plan would effectively limit the grouse's protected habitat to a mere 1.8 million acres, "essentially opening up nine million acres of land to drilling, mining and other development," the paper said.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke started the process last year when he signed a secretarial order to overhaul the Obama administration plan.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Deputy Interior Secretary David Bernhardt defended Thursday's move. "I completely believe that these plans are leaning forward on the conservation of sage grouse," Bernhardt told The Associated Press.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Do they do it in exactly the same way? No. We made some change in the plans and got rid of some things that are simply not necessary," he added.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">Conservation groups blasted the Trump administration's proposal. The Audubon Society pointed out that more than 40 thousand Americans have urged Secretary Zinke to honor the 2015 Greater Sage-Grouse conservation agreement.</span></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"Out West we know a deal is a deal. To have plans that took years of work, backed by good science and strong public support, brought into question is disheartening, a waste of tax-payers money and will threaten our public lands," Brian Rutledge, director of Audubon's Sagebrush Ecosystem Initiative, said in a press release.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The Center for Biological Diversity said it's not just the sage grouse at risk, but also hundreds of other sagebrush-dependent wildlife species.</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">"These plans show that Zinke will stop at nothing to make it easier for polluting industries to mine and frack every last acre of the West," Michael Saul, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release emailed to EcoWatch. "This is a huge step backward for greater sage grouse and for hundreds of other species that depend on unspoiled public land."</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Bobby McEnaney, senior director for the Western Renewable Energy Project at the Natural Resources Defense Council had similar sentiments.</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>
</b></div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>"It's hard to pretend at this point that Zinke is a steward of America's public lands: he acts more like a pillager,</b>" McEnaney said in an online statement. "This rolls back a conservation plan that was carefully crafted by states, ranchers, conservationists and public officials to protect this iconic western bird and the unique sagebrush landscape it inhabits. Zinke's move to unravel it is his single largest land use decision to date. It has no basis in science—it's a bald-faced giveaway to the oil and gas industry."</div><div style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">long doc</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/industry-communications-with-interior-and-bureau-of-land-management-on-sage-grouse-overhaul/">https://westernvaluesproject.org/industry-communications-with-interior-and-bureau-of-land-management-on-sage-grouse-overhaul/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/western-values-project-opens-investigation-in-response-to-leaked-document-revealing-industry-influence-of-interiors-sage-grouse-review/">https://westernvaluesproject.org/western-values-project-opens-investigation-in-response-to-leaked-document-revealing-industry-influence-of-interiors-sage-grouse-review/</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><div class="basic-heading" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 50px 0px 26px;"><div class="basic-heading-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 0px 40px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 1080px;"><div class="postmeta" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 14px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> August 21, 2017 by <a href="https://westernvaluesproject.org/author/jayson/" title="Posts by Jayson O'Neill" rel="author" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">Jayson O'Neill</a></font></p></div><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 35px; line-height: normal; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; max-width: 860px; letter-spacing: -0.02em; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Western Values Project opens investigation in response to leaked document revealing industry influence of Interior’s sage-grouse review</font></h1><h1 style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 35px; line-height: normal; text-rendering: optimizeLegibility; max-width: 860px; letter-spacing: -0.02em; font-weight: normal;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">FOIA filed in preparation for litigation after documents show oil and gas lobbyists shaped recommendations from Secretary Zinke</font></h1></div></div><div class="basic-wrap" style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 85px 40px 20px; margin: 0px auto; max-width: 820px;"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></p><p class="p1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Western Values Project (WVP) <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WVP-DOI-FOIA-20170817-01-Sage-Grouse.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">filed</a> a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) request seeking correspondence between industry representatives and staff at the Department of the Interior who worked on Secretary Zinke’s sage-grouse review. The request comes after WVP obtained a leaked document showing that the Western Energy Alliance (WEA), an oil and gas industry trade group, was behind most of the recommendations that made it into the Secretary’s report.</font></p><p class="p1" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Read the leaked document <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA_7-19-2017-1.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">here.</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The memo from WEA is nothing short of an industry wish list, with 15 recommendations for the sage-grouse review team</b>. Analysis shows that 13 of those requests were granted by Secretary Zinke’s handpicked sage-grouse review team. A side-by-side comparison can be found <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/WEA-Industry-report-comparison-chart.pdf" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">here.</a></font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">“Despite pleas from Western governors, stakeholders, farmers, ranchers, scientists and conservationists, it appears Secretary Zinke was only listening to lobbyists from the oil and gas industry during his sage-grouse review. When you compare Secretary Zinke’s recommendations to the oil and gas industry’s wish list, it becomes clear that he is doing the bidding of these Washington, D.C. special interests,” said <b style="box-sizing: border-box;">Jayson O’Neill, Deputy Director of the Western Values Project</b>. “This is a dangerous trend that is becoming a pattern for Secretary Zinke – offer lip-service to the West while granting private industry unfettered control of our public lands.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Western governors from both political parties <a href="http://westernvaluesproject.org/secretary-zinke-continues-to-give-handouts-to-industry-ignores-western-voices-with-sage-grouse-order/" style="box-sizing: border-box; transition: color 0.1s linear 0s; text-decoration-line: none;">reached</a> out to Secretary Zinke urging him to preserve the plan they spent years developing, including a request that the department not move forward with population targets and captive breeding. Those requests were ignored.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 25px; line-height: 2em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">If the Department of the Interior fails to fulfill the FOIA request within a timely manner, WVP will file suit.</font></p></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/sage-grouse">https://www.huffingtonpost.com/topic/sage-grouse</a></font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
</font></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);" /><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Trump Team Announces Oil-Friendly Strategy For Protecting Sage Grouse</font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></font></div><div>By Chris D’Angelo</div><div>The changes “will no doubt fast-track the greater sage-grouse’s listing as an endangered species,” one conservationist said.</div><div>U.S. Bureau of Land Management photo shows a sage grouse in this undated photo. President Barack Obama's administration plans to protect the greater sage grouse in the western United States by limiting oil and gas development and renewable energy in the bird's habitat, under a federal plan released on May 28, 2015.    REUTERS/Bob Wick/BLM/Handout FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS. THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. IT IS DISTRIBUTED, EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY REUTERS, AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS</div><div>POLITICS</div><div>Interior Secretary Takes Aim At Obama-Era Sage Grouse Protections</div><div>By Chris D’Angelo</div><div>Ryan Zinke’s oil-friendly order “might just have landed the decisive blow” against the imperiled bird, a conservationist said.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>We Must Protect the Endangered Species Act</div><div>By David Yarnold, Contributor</div><div>President and CEO of the National Audubon Society</div><div>Once we lose a species we never get it back. There are always those who ask, “What’s the big deal about one bird?” The web of life - the creation all around us - is ours to protect. And we know that if a species like the golden-cheeked warbler is in trouble, it means entire ecosystems are in trouble.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>Goodwill Towards Wildlife Is Lacking in Congress</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div><div>It’s time for Congress to stop slipping destructive anti-wildlife amendments into the appropriations bill, to do their jobs and fund the government. Let’s ring in the New Year with a clean Omnibus Spending Bill, and a thriving wildlife heritage for future generations.</div><div>A greater sage-grouse is seen in this undated handout. Efforts to protect an iconic bird could disrupt oil, natural gas and wind energy development in the U.S. West and add to the Democratic Party's green woes ahead of the 2010 congressional elections. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has until Feb. 26 to decide whether or not to list the greater sage-grouse under the Endangered Species Act. This may prove politically charged as it comes in the face of opposition from energy interests and state governments who fear it will hurt economic development.  To match analysis ENERGY-WIND/BIRD REUTERS/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service/Handout (ENVIRONMENT ANIMALS ENERGY) FOR EDITORIAL USE ONLY. NOT FOR SALE FOR MARKETING OR ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS</div><div>POLITICS</div><div>Feds Decide Not To Add Greater Sage Grouse To Endangered Species List</div><div>By Kate Sheppard</div><div>Industry and conservation groups aren’t happy about the final verdict on protections for this Western bird.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>The Fate of Greater Sage-grouse is in Our Hands</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div><div>Unless the federal plans are improved, the Fish and Wildlife Service may have little choice but to propose sage-grouse for listing under the Endangered Species Act.</div><div>
</div><div>POLITICS</div><div>Why Some Republicans Don’t Want Legal Protection For This Unique Bird</div><div>By Reuters, Reuters</div><div>“The Endangered Species Act has gone from a well-intentioned piece of legislation in the 1970s to one that is dictated by</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>Inappropriate Appropriations</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div><div>Congressional attacks on bedrock environmental laws are sadly nothing new. What is new, however, is the overwhelming magnitude and targeted nature of this recent wave of attacks. They are clearly intended to undermine the strength of lands, water and wildlife protections and would have disastrous implications for the future of conservation in the U.S.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>Sage-Grouse and Other Threatened Species Don’t Threaten National Security</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div><div>Military readiness and the conservation of greater sage-grouse- - an iconic and imperiled bird that makes its home in the American West — and other imperiled species are not things most Americans would consider at odds with each other... because they aren’t.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>A Congressional Assault on Earth</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div><div>How are members of Congress celebrating Earth Day this year? Planting trees? Recycling? Passing legislation that will further protect our air, land, water and wildlife for generations? Guess again.</div><div>TRENDING</div><div>Style Blogger Freddie Harrel Shows The Difference Between Instagram And Reality</div><div>Meghan Markle Opens Up About Her Pregnancy During Royal Tour</div><div>Nikki Haley Jokes She’s Not An ‘Indian Woman’ In Swipe At Elizabeth Warren</div><div>Kardashians Jointly Drag TMZ Over Privacy Concerns After Scary Stalking Incident</div><div>Donald Trump’s Attempt At A Twitter Rhyme Backfires Spectacularly</div><div>Maisie Williams Breaks ‘Game Of Thrones’ Code Of Silence With Final Scene Tease</div><div>Do you have info to share with HuffPost reporters? Here’s how.</div><div>
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</div><div>POLITICS</div><div>Keystone, Meet The Grouse Wars</div><div>By Kate Sheppard</div><div>The lesser prairie chicken is the latest member of the grouse family to face congressional scrutiny. In December, a provision</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>A Horseback Account of America’s Vanishing Prairie</div><div>By Robin Walter, Contributor</div><div>Conservation writer and photographer</div><div>I peered through my mule’s ears at a copper-coated bison squaring off with me in a remote corner of Northeastern Montana, and shortened my reins. Two weeks into a 3-month expedition to document the changing Great Plains landscape, this was our first bison.</div><div>
</div><div>POLITICS</div><div>Sage-Grouse Species Get Thrown Under The Omnibus</div><div>By Kate Sheppard</div><div>But among the things the package didn’t protect: two species of sage-grouse. But it’s not just about the birds, conservationists</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>After Bundy, Ranchers Continue to Bully Federal Government Without Consequence</div><div>By Travis Bruner, Contributor</div><div>Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project</div><div>Consistent with its mandate as managers of federal land, the Bureau of Land Management has demanded the removal of cattle from the Argenta allotment, and the subsidized public lands ranchers have refused.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>Government Plans to Kill the Messenger</div><div>By Travis Bruner, Contributor</div><div>Executive Director of Western Watersheds Project</div><div>Ravens aren’t the problem, and killing them isn’t the solution. It would be better to listen to the message ravens bear about unstable ecosystems, and work towards restoration, rather than destroy our wild heritage.</div><div>
</div><div>ENVIRONMENT</div><div>A Wink and a Nod Won’t Save a Declining Species</div><div>By Jamie Clark, Contributor</div><div>Defenders of Wildlife President and CEO</div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div><div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The Woes of the Western Sage Grouse: Environmental Canary in the Coal Mine</b></font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Ask environmental activists who have filed litigation under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) what they find so lacking in local conservation efforts and you will get some creative answers that…</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by KEVIN MOONEY on JULY 17, 2018</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GREEN WATCH</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Woes of the Western Sage Grouse: Party Divisions</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Western Watersheds Project, which is headquartered in Idaho, has joined with other well-endowed environmental advocacy groups to file suit against the Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management and U.S.</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by KEVIN MOONEY on JULY 17, 2018</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GREEN WATCH</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Woes of the Western Sage Grouse: Weaponizing the Endangered Species Act</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While there’s an argument to be made that the Gunnison sage grouse is a genetically distinct species from the greater sage grouse and has a different feather pattern and mating…</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by KEVIN MOONEY on JULY 17, 2018</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Support Capital Research Center's award-winning journalism</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Donate today to assist in promoting the principles of individual liberty in America. </font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">GREEN WATCH</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Woes of the Western Sage Grouse: Is Reform on the Way?</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">by KEVIN MOONEY on JULY 17, 2018</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">ORGANIZATION TRENDS</font></div><div style="font-family: " times="Times" new="New" roman="Roman" font-size="font-size" large="large" background-color="background-color" rgb="rgb"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> </font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">=</font></div><div><a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-3/"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" color="#000000" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">https://capitalresearch.org/article/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-3/</font></a></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">
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</font></div><div><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; text-align: center;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Woes of the Western Sage Grouse (Full Series)<br style="box-sizing: border-box;" /><a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-1" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Environmental Canary in the Coal Mine</span></a> <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">| <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-2" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Party Divisions</a> | <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-3" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Weaponizing the Endangered Species Act</a> | <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-4/" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Is Reform on the Way?</a></span></font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">Summary:</span></span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;"> Partisan disagreement about listing the Bi-State and greater sage grouse in western states as an endangered species sparked costly lawsuits and strained partnerships between local industries, states, and the federal government. This is the latest indicator that <b>Congress needs to act to prevent regulatory overreach by executive agencies and to reform the Endangered Species Act to limit radical environmentalists’ ability to stick taxpayers with bills for expensive and needless litigation.</b></span></font></p><h5 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Bistate Sage Grouse</font></h5><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While there’s an argument to be made that the Gunnison sage grouse is a genetically distinct species from the greater sage grouse and has a different feather pattern and mating call, it’s difficult to make that case with the Bi-State sage grouse. But if you’re determined to file lawsuits, you will find a way to make that case.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Bi-State sage grouse is concentrated along the border of two states: Nevada and California. Biologists estimate that anywhere from 2,500 and 9,000 of these birds inhabit about 4.5 million acres of sagebrush habitat.</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> The Fish and Wildlife Service describes the Bi-State sage grouse as a “Distinct Population Segment” because studies show that it has been separated from the larger greater sage grouse population for thousands of years and that there are “significant genetic differences.”</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The bird may be geographically distinct, but the idea that there is a major <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">genetic</em> difference between it and the greater sage grouse is highly questionable and open to debate. Megan Maxwell, an independent policy advisor with a background in biology who is based in Colorado, offered up a few important points of clarification in an email message:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">A ‘distinct’ species is not a biological term, it is a mechanism used in listing a species under the ESA . . . For example, it is used when it would be difficult to reach the conclusion that an entire species warrants listing, but certain population segments are under stress that the broader populations lack. When certain criteria are met, the listing agencies can parse out a population and classify it as a ‘distinct population segment.’ In sum, ‘distinct’ should not be confused with a sub species, which is a biological classification. [The] bistate [sage grouse] is a distinct population segment.</font></p></blockquote><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>In April 2015, Interior Secretary Jewell sent environmental groups into a tailspin during an ostentatious public announcement in Reno, Nevada, where she was joined by state and local officials “to celebrate an extensive and long-term conservation partnership <span style="box-sizing: border-box; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;">on behalf of the bi-state greater sage-grouse population</span>,</b>”<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">as the exercise was d</span><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">es</span>cribed in a press release. The bi-state sage grouse would not be listed under the Endangered Species Act thanks in large part to a 15-year effort known as Bi-State Action Plan, she explained during the announcement. This conservation plan, which involved state and local partners in both the public and private sector, drew in a total of $75 million in funding for the project. Jewell singled out the Bi-State Local Area Working Group for special praise, which brought in $45 million in funding, according to the release:</font></span></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5in;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Thanks in large part to the extraordinary efforts of all the partners in the working group to address threats to greater sage-grouse and its habitat in the Bi-State area, our biologists have determined that this population no longer needs ESA protection . . . What’s more, the collaborative, science-based efforts in Nevada and California are proof that we can conserve sagebrush habitat across the West while we encourage sustainable economic development.</font></span></p></blockquote><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style=""><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">That didn’t cut it for environmental activists who <span class="Internetlink" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">filed suit</span></span> under the Endangered Species Act against the Fish and Wildlife Service in March 2016. Western Watersheds Project joined with the Center for Biological Diversity, WildEarth Guardians, Desert Survivors, and the Stanford Law Clinic to file the suit.</span><span style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"> Once again, these green groups expressed dissatisfaction with the time, effort, and resources invested into state and local conservation. In a press release, Western Watersheds Project said:</span></font></span></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em 0.5in;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">In refusing to protect the bird, the Service relied upon new funding for measures in the Bi-State Action Plan. But that would fund activities on a mere 40,000 acres of private lands—less than one percent of the bird’s habitat.</font></span></p><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5in;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Most of the 4.5 million acres of Bi-State sage-grouse habitat is on public lands, the bulk of which are grazed by livestock. Not a single federal land management plan has been amended to protect Bi-State sage-grouse, and the few proposed amendments will not conserve the bird. Ongoing livestock grazing on public lands will continue to threaten the grouse’s survival—from nest trampling, fenceline deaths, increased predation, vegetation composition changes, increased invasive species proliferation and increased fire risks.</font></span></p></blockquote><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="">Laxalt, the Nevada attorney general who was at loggerheads with his own Republican governor, Brian Sandoval, when filing suit against the Obama administration, later found common cause with his governor where the Bi-State sage grouse is concerned. Laxalt <span class="Internetlink" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">intervened</span></span> on behalf of his state, California, and federal officials who joined together to form the Bi-State Action Plan. If the bird species were listed under the Endangered Species Act, Nevada’s authority over the Bi-State sage grouse could be “permanently displaced,” Laxalt argued in <span class="Internetlink" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">his motion:</span></span></font></span></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 0px 0.5in;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Nevada has interests outside of wildlife protection that could be affected by the litigation . . . A listing of a species as threatened, or designation of critical habit, can impose strictures that significantly limit state action and impose consultation duties. This might cause disruption to local land use plans, cut off residential development and commercial investment, and harm recreational interests.</font></span></p></blockquote><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>For his part, Governor Sandoval fixes the blame on “fringe groups”</b> in the environmental movement that he says are working to undermine “unprecedented efforts” that have resulted in successful conservation.</font></span></p><p class="Standard" style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; background-image: initial; background-position: initial; background-size: initial; background-repeat: initial; background-attachment: initial; background-origin: initial; background-clip: initial;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman"><b>But in May, those “fringe groups” gained ground when a federal judge stepped in to rule in their favor</b>. California Chief Magistrate Judge Joseph Spero described the USFWS 2015 decision to not list the species as <span class="Internetlink" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“arbitrary and capricious”</span></span> and said that the agency <span style="box-sizing: border-box;">“failed to adequately explain why it reversed course and denied protection” to the Bi-State population.</span></font></span></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em; text-indent: -0.6pt;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 19.6px; background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman">Holsinger responded to the ruling <span class="Internetlink" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">in E&E News: </span></span>“Unfortunately, the lawsuit and the ruling on listed status,” he said, “will only make it more cumbersome and difficult to do on-the-ground conservation work for the benefit of the grouse.”</font></span></p><h5 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Reforming the Endangered Species Act</font></h5><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 102);">The Western Governor’s Association (WGA</font><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">), which met this past June in Rapid City, South Dakota, has been focusing attention on potential reforms to the Endangered Species Act that could attract support across party lines. Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead launched the Species Conservation and Endangered Species Act Initiative in 2015 while serving as WGA chairman. Under the present system, the Act “often deters meaningful conservation efforts and divides, rather than unites people,” Mead explains in a special report about the initiative. There’s a palpable sense among WGA members that litigation advanced in the name of endangered species has become costly and counterproductive. That much is made apparent in their comments expressed during recent meetings and in their published reports. Both the greater and the Gunnison sage grouse figure prominently in WGA case studies that suggest excessive litigation has worked to undermine local conservation efforts organized on behalf of the species.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Whether or not the governors prevail upon their Washington, D.C., counterparts to enact reforms is an open question. The suits filed under the Endangered Species Act against both the EPA and the Interior Departments often result in litigation costs, including taxpayer-funded attorneys’ fees being rewarded to green groups as part of the settlement. So-called <b>“sue-and-settle</b>” arrangements built around lawsuits green advocacy groups file against the federal government “almost quintupled” during Barack Obama’s presidency, according to records presented during congressional testimony.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">How does this happen?</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Last July,<b> Holsinger </b>and other expert witnesses gathered to present testimony before Congress on multiple pieces of legislation that would restructure the Endangered Species Act. Holsinger told members of the House Natural Resources Committee that the Act’s many deficiencies should have been addressed years ago:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The last time the ESA was substantively updated (1988), the Soviet Union was a superpower and Def Leppard topped the pop charts . . . Former Idaho Senator Dirk Kempthorne tried, but ultimately failed, to amend and reauthorize the ESA in 1997. I was intimately involved in those efforts as well as the amendments to the ESA that passed the House in October of 2005.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Holsinger’s firm has produced a memorandum that includes facts and figures on “sue and settle” arrangements. He points to the “citizen suit” provision of the Endangered Species Act and the Equal Access to Justice Act as the two primary areas of the law that create avenues for environmental groups to burden taxpayers with lawsuits <em style="box-sizing: border-box;">without </em>advancing conservation goals.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Holsinger’s memo identifies three major problems with sue-and-settle process. (1) They lack transparency. (2) They reflect collusion between federal agencies and environmental groups. (3) They exclude the public, stakeholders, and states from participating in negotiations that affect agency rules and policy.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In an interview, he explained why “legislative fix” is needed to address some of the more abusive practices:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">There are terrible perverse incentives standing behind many of the lawsuits we see . . .Two groups in particular—the Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians—have filed more than 1300 lawsuits in the past few decades and most of those suits are raising ESA issues and these green groups are collecting taxpayer-funded attorneys’ fees. This is a vicious cycle of litigation that does nothing for conservation while allowing for the recovery of attorney fees with no caps on hourly rates.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Green advocacy groups will often create the issues they litigate over by overwhelming federal agencies with petitions for listings under the ESA and when those agencies fail to meet a deadline these groups simply file suit. “I think it’s the lowest hanging of low hanging fruit to address abusive litigation practices under both the ESA and the Equal Access to Justice Act,” Holsinger said.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>The House Committee on Natural Resources has collected data from the U.S. Department of Justice that demonstrates just how costly green litigation has been</b>. Green groups filed more than 570 ESA lawsuits against the federal government between 2009 and 2012 costing U.S. taxpayers more than $15 million, according to the data. Three of the green groups the House committee cites as being among the “most litigious organizations” (the Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watersheds Project, and WildEarth Guardians) are involved in lawsuits over the sage grouse.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><b>In the special case of Colorado, all three groups are calling on the Fish and Wildlife Service to elevate the listing of the Gunnison sage grouse from “threatened” to “endangered</b>.” Apparently, only the most restrictive and costly listing will satisfy environmentalists. WildEarth Guardians has joined with Clait Braun, a retired sage grouse researcher with the Colorado Division of Wildlife, to file suit while The Center for Biological Diversity and the Western Watersheds Project have partnered in separate, but related litigation calling for an endangerment listing. True to form, the environmental activists who are unsatisfied with the less restrictive “threatened” listing are dismissive and condescending toward state-level conservation. Amy Atwood, endangered species legal director with the Center for Biological Diversity, said in a press release:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Full protection is needed in order to save this charismatic bird, and that’s why we’re taking this to court . . . We certainly appreciate the efforts of counties and others to take action to protect habitat for the Gunnison sage grouse, but there’s no reason these activities could not have continued with the endangered designation the grouse clearly warrants.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">But there’s some breaking news regarding the Gunnison sage grouse: As of April, the Fish and Wildlife Service and environmental groups have all agreed to put their litigation on hold for the next 30 months so that Fish and Wildlife officials can complete a recovery plan for the bird. The Center for Biological Diversity, the Western Watersheds Project, WildEarth Guardians, and Clait Braun are all parties to the agreement. Its several requirements include a “species status assessment” that highlights the bird’s population status. The plan must also identify all the threats to the bird and its habitat.</font></p><h5 style="box-sizing: border-box; line-height: 1.2; margin: 0px 0px 1em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">What about Industry and Development?</font></h5><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">While press coverage of sage grouse litigation tends to focus on the arguments advanced by environmental groups, American industry has its own list of concerns, which are often ignored by the coverage. The <b>Western Energy Alliance, the Denver-based group</b> that represents the oil and gas industry partnered with the North Dakota Petroleum Council in a<b> lawsuit filed against President Obama’s </b>Interior and Agricultural Departments that seeks to overturn the land use plans, which impact roughly 165 million acres of land.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The lawsuit reads:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">In promulgating these plans, the Federal Defendants designated a variety of habitat levels and imposed corresponding restrictions and prohibitions on new oil and gas leasing, and on development of valid existing leases.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">These restrictions impact all of the oil and gas producing western states with greater sage grouse habitat, the suit argues:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">North Dakota, for example, has the highest percentage of existing oil and gas leased acreage within these newly designated priority habitat areas and corresponding leasing and development restrictions of any other state in the West. Yet, unlike other states that also have these new plans, the applicable federal land use plan in North Dakota does not provide for an adaptive management strategy to provide flexibility to future oil and gas development and operations based upon changed circumstances.</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Rather than the top-down approach taken by BLM and USFS, federal land use plans should be guided by state and local conservation plans and supported by local science . . . State and local efforts provide a more sensible and adaptive approach to GrSG [greater sage grouse] management while balancing future economic growth that is lacking from a federal one-size-fits-all approach.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">The Western Energy Alliance also cites figures from the Western Association of Fish & Wildlife Agencies compiled in 2015 that point to a 63 percent increase in the greater sage grouse population over the preceding two years. The evidence on the ground clearly weighs in favor of decentralized efforts that brings together a broad cross-section of government officials, private landowners, genuine conservationists, and industry people. The population trends for the birds have been moving in the right direction. That’s true for both the greater sage grouse and the Gunnison sage grouse. So why is there reflexive opposition on the part of green groups to local and state efforts that can point to tangible results?</font></p><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Seasholes, the Washington, D.C. area consultant who favors free market solutions to energy and environmental challenges, has some insight:</font></p><blockquote style="box-sizing: border-box; padding: 14px 28px; margin: 0px 0px 28px; border-left: 5px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); font-style: italic; border-top-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-right-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1); border-bottom-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);"><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);">Conservation is not a quick fix and it can take years, even decades. If you want to do it right, private lands are the key because about 60 percent of the land in this country is privately owned. This is the land that has the most ecological value and if you want a sustainable environment you must have sustainable relationships. But there is now a divide in this country about how we do conservation. There’s the old approach where you work with landowners and share the costs. But beginning with the modern environmental movement in the late 1960s and into the 1970s this command and control approach emerged that harms landowners. The land use regulations with the sage grouse fits this narrative as does the Endangered Species Act, which is the ultimate expression of a coercive, one-size fits all approach out of Washington, D.C., that is highly counterproductive.</font></p></blockquote><p style="box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px 0px 1.5em;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box;">In the <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/article/the-woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse-part-4/" style="box-sizing: border-box;">conclusion</a> of </span>The Woes of the Western Sage Grouse<span style="box-sizing: border-box;">, learn about the legislative possibilities that exist to reduce the regulatory burden caused by letigious enviornmental groups. </span></font></p><div class="single__tags" style="box-sizing: border-box;"><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"><span style="box-sizing: border-box; font-weight: 700;">Tags:</span> <a href="https://capitalresearch.org/tag/woes-of-the-western-sage-grouse/" style="box-sizing: border-box;">Woes of the Western Sage Grouse</a></font></div></div><div><font size="4" face="Times New Roman" style="background-color: rgb(255, 255, 255);"></font></div></div>