Interior Secretary Touring Idaho Sage Grouse Habitat

ROGERSON, Idaho (AP) — U.S. Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell is expected to tour sagebrush habitat in Idaho and Wyoming this week to discuss sage grouse conservation efforts.

Jewell is scheduled to join Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Steve Ellis in Rogerson, Idaho on Tuesday to tour land that was burned in 2007's large Murphy Complex wildfire. The blaze scorched more than 900 square miles. Federal, state and local efforts have been underway to replant sagebrush and other native plants in the region.

On Wednesday Jewell is expected to join Wyoming Gov. Matt Mead and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Director Dan Ashe to view sagebrush conservation efforts on a ranch near Pinedale. While there she will sign nine sage-grouse protection plans in an effort to highlight private and public conservation partnerships.