Plans by the Trump administration to reduce protections for the iconic greater sage grouse, which lives on millions of acres of oil and gas-rich lands, have been blocked by a federal judge. The move undermines government efforts to permit greater drilling, logging and mining in the west of the US. In an opinion issued late last month, US district judge Dana Christensen ruled that the Obama administration’s plan was not based on science, but instead “arbitrary and capricious”. The Trump administration’s plan aims to limit that designation to all but 1.8 million acres, mostly in Oregon and Montana. However, Winmill suggested that the environmental organizations that brought the challenge are likely to be successful. The groups argued that the Interior Department did not consider reasonable alternatives and did not investigate the environmental consequences of its proposals.
Plans by the Trump administration to reduce protections for the iconic greater sage grouse, which lives on millions of acres of oil and gas-rich lands, have been blocked by a federal judge. The move undermines government efforts to permit greater drilling, logging and mining in the west of the US. In an opinion issued late last month, US district judge Dana Christensen ruled that the Obama administration’s plan was not based on science, but instead “arbitrary and capricious”. However, Winmill suggested that the environmental organizations that brought the challenge are likely to be successful. The groups argued that the Interior Department did not consider reasonable alternatives and did not investigate the environmental consequences of its proposals.