Everyone knows to take government budget numbers with a grain of salt, right? Still, this overview of the money being directed towards sage grouse conservation is pretty interesting . . .
Spending on a government-sponsored initiative to help struggling sage grouse populations in the West is projected to exceed $750 million by 2018.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said Thursday the money will conserve an estimated 8 million acres of sage grouse habitat. Federal officials are more than halfway to that goal since starting the Sage Grouse Initiative in 2010.
The chicken-sized birds are found in 11 Western states. They’re being considered for federal protections after their numbers plummeted in recent decades.