Interacting with the reporters on Friday, the US Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said that the Interior Department had issued a “warranted but precluded” status for the greater sage grouse – a chicken-sized bird found in 11 Western states. The move implies that though the bird meets scientific criteria for protection, other species are a higher priority.

However, with the status of the sage grouse to be reviewed every year by the state officials, the suggestion by the Interior Department officials calls for a reversal of 2005 decision on the bird’s status; thereby recommending that that the bird should be deemed a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act, but not for at least another year.

Noting that the listing the grouse as ‘endangered’ would adversely affect oil, gas, and renewable-energy development projects across Western states, as well as prohibit grouse hunting, Salazar said: “We must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species' survival, while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources.”

Meanwhile, Joe Kiesecker, a lead scientist for the Nature Conservancy, said that the listing of sage grouse as endangered would serve as a “wake up call,” prompting land managers to mull over the potential impacts on bird, which symbolizes the deteriorating sagebrush landscapes in Nevada, Wyoming, Oregon and other Western states.