An iconic bird just lost important habitat protections: What it means
https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/03/sage-grouse-rule-rollback-conservation/
The Trump administration took away protection for the sage grouse, a bird that served as a symbol of balancing extractive land use and preservation in the west. The plan allows for more oil and gas leasing, and higher drilling opportunities, covering nearly nine million acres of habitat that is crucial for the sage grouse. There has been debate since the 1990s about confirming the grouse as endangered, but this would have meant human restrictions on these areas. During 2015, Obama temporarily settled dispute by agreeing to push this kind of harmful energy work to more industrialized areas, leaving the areas where the grouse are as sort of safe zones. The current changes for each state are dependent on the wants of the particular state governor. Scientists believe that these birds used to have a population of tens of millions, but have now been reduced to fewer than half a million. I feel that those in power have gotten extremely and bluntly greedy in terms of taking the environment and the land of our country for granted. Was the proposition that Obama made, simply mapping our some areas where the energy extraction could occur not enough? I feel that taking the leap of seizing nine million more acres for harmful human activity is extreme and unacceptable. There needs to be some form of accountability for if and when this species goes extinct.
The Trump administration took away protection for the sage grouse, a bird that served as a symbol of balancing extractive land use and preservation in the west. The plan allows for more oil and gas leasing, and higher drilling opportunities, covering nearly nine million acres of habitat that is crucial for the sage grouse. There has been debate since the 1990s about confirming the grouse as endangered, but this would have meant human restrictions on these areas. During 2015, Obama temporarily settled dispute by agreeing to push this kind of harmful energy work to more industrialized areas, leaving the areas where the grouse are as sort of safe zones. The current changes for each state are dependent on the wants of the particular state governor. Scientists believe that these birds used to have a population of tens of millions, but have now been reduced to fewer than half a million. I feel that those in power have gotten extremely and bluntly greedy in terms of taking the environment and the land of our country for granted. Was the proposition that Obama made, simply mapping our some areas where the energy extraction could occur not enough? I feel that taking the leap of seizing nine million more acres for harmful human activity is extreme and unacceptable. There needs to be some form of accountability for if and when this species goes extinct.
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