LAS VEGAS — Nevada Gov. Brian Sandoval planned Monday to talk privately with President Barack Obama about keeping the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list in 11 Western states.
The Republican governor planned to meet with the Democratic president after welcoming him at McCarran International Airport for a clean energy conference at the nearby Las Vegas Strip.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service faces a court order to make a decision by Sept. 30 about listing the chicken-sized bird as endangered in rangeland in states from California to the Dakotas.
The decision carries big implications for oil and gas drilling, livestock grazing and a host of other uses of federal lands throughout the region.
Sandoval joined Interior Secretary Sally Jewell in Reno in April when Jewell announced she was reversing an earlier proposal to list the bistate sage grouse unique to California and Nevada as endangered.
Sandoval, past-president of the Western Governors Association, said at that time he also believes it’s possible to keep the greater sage grouse off the endangered species list.
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