Federal officials are weighing impassioned testimony from farmers, ranchers, hunters and wildlife advocates at the only public hearing in the country on the government's latest attempt to take gray wolves off the endangered and threatened species list.
Wildlife advocates are seeking a court order that would force U.S. officials to consider if grizzly bears should be restored to more Western states following the animals' resurgence in the Northern Rockies.
Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter says the state has to be vigilant monitoring the federal government's creation of a new sage grouse conservation plan because of federal employees who worked on the previous plan that caused Otter to file a lawsuit.
Federal wildlife officials say a cat-sized predator that lives in old-growth forests of the Northern Rockies is not in danger of extinction despite worries about habitat loss and accidental trapping. The Trump administration on Wednesday included the Northern Rockies fisher among 25 species that officials said do not merit protection under the Endangered Species Act.
BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack says almost $1.3 million in grants are being awarded to two private-sector programs aimed at conserving greater sage grouse across the American West.