Free Republic

A decision this week by Shell to shutter its oil shale operation in Colorado to pursue other ventures in Jordan and Canada highlights the difficulties faced by developers in the state as they wrestle with uncertain rules under the Obama administration. Royal Dutch Shell was one of the most successful companies in the state in its efforts to develop a cost-efficient technique to extract oil from shale rock. But the final act of Ken Salazar as Interior secretary earlier this year to rewrite industry rules left companies in limbo with undeterminable royalty rates, and blocked them from obtaining leases for...

as debate heats up on Capitol Hill over the proposed listing of the Sage Grouse as an endangered species, a key concern of Colorado Republican Rep. Scott Tipton is that it may never be de-listed, even if the population recovers. If the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) decide to list the species, the new protections would restrict management of two million acres in Colorado considered critical habitat, including private property. That means limited use of the property for grazing or energy development. “If we have a recovery in Garfield County, it will never be taken off the listing because...

The Bureau of Land Management is currently considering several Resource Management Plan proposals in Montana, with one major objective ostensibly aimed at conserving sage grouse habitat to bolster population growth. However, one look at the management plans clearly shows that the stated intentions are very different from what the plans would actually accomplish. In reality, these RMPs are one of the biggest threats to private property rights and natural resource development that our state has seen in years. The RMPs would effectively shut down BLM-managed land, as well as some privately held land, to development by eliminating grazing permits, restricting...

Colorado property owners affected by a federal proposal to list the sage grouse as an endangered species should be compensated for the loss of their ability to earn a living from the land, Rep. Scott Tipton.. The Colorado Republican asked Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) Director Dan Ashe at a House hearing if the federal government planned to compensate those who would no longer be able to raise crops or cattle on property claimed for the bird’s critical habitat. “No,” Ashe replied sharply. The proposed map of the listing and bird’s wide-ranging territory over two million acres of Colorado and...

American taxpayers will be tremendously relieved to know that the U.S. government is hard at work trying to get official endangered status for ... the New Mexico meadow jumping mouse and the feds want to designate it a critical habitat protected under the Endangered Species Act, the 1973 law signed by President Richard Nixon to protect species from extinction as a “consequence of economic growth and development untempered by adequate concern and conservation.” The federal government’s list of more than 1,300 threatened or endangered species ... The Service is proposing to designate around 14,561 acres of critical habitat along streams...

Sally Jewell on Thursday breezed through a committee vote to lead the Interior Department but the agency’s proposal to list the sage grouse as an endangered species threatens to block her nomination from reaching the full Senate. ... some Republican lawmakers were not satisfied with Jewell’s responses to written and oral questions about her past association with the National Park Association’s lawsuits against the government and future plans to list the sage grouse as an endangered species. Sen. James Risch (R-Idaho) threatened to put a hold on Jewell’s nomination before it goes to a floor vote unless the agency commits...

Multiple rural county sheriffs from Utah testified Thursday about the abusive use of police power by Bureau of Land Management rangers or forest protection officers with the U.S. Forest Service. They are asserting it is time to rein in the authority the agencies should have never been allowed to exercise. Sheriffs from San Juan, Kane and Garfield counties spoke in favor of HB155, sponsored by Rep. Mike Noel, R-Kanab, which proposes to limit BLM rangers and forest protection officers from exercising police power over state and local laws unless someone's safety is at risk or federal contracts are in place...

More than 200 people crowded into the Monticello High School auditorium on February 7 for a public hearing on the proposed designation of endangered species status for the small population of Gunnision Sage Grouse in San Juan County. Representatives from the US Fish and Wildlife Service faced a mostly hostile but mostly respectful crowd. They were there to explain the rationale behind the proposed designation and how it may affect the area. Two rules are proposed: one would designate the bird as an endangered species and the other would designation large swaths of land as critical habitat. San Juan County...

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service ... has proposed designating 1.7 million acres in southwest Colorado and southeast Utah as critical habitat for the bird ... The designation sometimes, but not always, means restrictions on human activities on that land. The public and the scientific community have until March 12 to comment before the agency makes a final decision on whether to list the Gunnison sage grouse as endangered.

RENO -- As part of the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) National Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy, the BLM and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are holding interactive social and economic public workshops. ... Interested partners will be guided on how to contribute social and economic information in the development of the Programmatic Environmental Impact Statement to amend Land Use Plans throughout the Greater Sage-grouse’s range in Nevada and Northeast California. They will also provide an opportunity for individuals to provide information regarding the use of public lands resources, how public lands influence their quality of life and how the BLM and U.S....