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Pentagon: Don’t block bird protections

By Associated Press
Published: July 18, 2018, 8:26pm

WASHINGTON — The Pentagon is objecting to a Republican proposal in a defense policy bill that would bar the Fish and Wildlife Service from using the Endangered Species Act to protect two chickenlike birds in the western half of the U.S.

The Defense Department says in a position paper made public Wednesday that the environmental measure inserted by House Republicans is unnecessary. The House-approved language would block endangered-species listing for the sage grouse and lesser-prairie chicken.

The birds have become flashpoints in a legal and political battle over whether they warrant federal protection that hinders mining, logging and other economic development in states from Kansas to California.

The Pentagon says that the GOP provision “is not necessary to protect military testing and training.” The department “urges its exclusion” from the defense bill being negotiated by House and Senate leaders, the statement said.

Utah Rep. Rob Bishop inserted the endangered-species language into the defense policy bill, arguing that federal conservation efforts for the imperiled birds and the beetle undermine military training and readiness.

Retired Major Gen. Paul Eaton, managing director of Vet Voice Foundation, an advocacy group that supports environmental causes, called the GOP rider “a shameful ploy” to undermine important public lands and wildlife protections.

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