WTF is it with this bird? This is the second smart idea that the eco-socialists are killing by using this bird (here is the first).

Two conservation groups have asked the federal government to impose new restrictions on oil and gas development in the West to protect the greater sage grouse, a popular game bird on the decline.

Scientists contend sage grouse breeding areas are suffering in the face of accelerating oil and gas exploration in Wyoming, Montana, Colorado, Utah and other Western states.

West Nile virus, drought and residential development also have taken a toll on the bird, which is being considered for the endangered species list.

Federal rules now say oil and gas companies cannot drill within quarter of a mile of sage grouse breeding areas. Last week, Idaho-based North American Grouse Partnership and the Theodore Roosevelt Conservation Partnership of Washington, D.C., filed a legal petition asking for the rule be extended to two miles.

Two miles? For a bird whose only redeeming quality is that it tastes good?

And I’m not even allowed to even eat the damned feathered beast!?!

I guess these folks can kiss their future income goodbye

They tried casinos on the Crow Indian reservation. The one designed to bring in the biggest crowds, Res-a-Vegas, went bust within a year and is now a fireworks stand.But now the Crow are convinced a really big jackpot lies below the surface: coal.

With energy prices soaring, the poverty-stricken Crow want to tap the vast deposits underneath their 2 million acres of land. The tribe estimates the ground contains 9 billion tons of extractable coal, or enough to meet the nation’s needs for almost a decade.

”We’re not just trying to help ourselves today,” said Joanie Rowland, who directs the 12,000-member tribe’s nascent energy program. “We want to set up the reservation so that it will prosper and help the future generations.”

A noble venture. Thinking of their children and grandchildren. Wanting to help America power herself.

Ain’t gonna happen. Between the BIA, the WWF, and the Sierra Club, these guys don’t have a snowball’s chance in an eastern Montana summer.