WASHINGTON (AP) — In an abrupt reversal, the Pentagon said Thursday it supports 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 chicken-like birds in the western half of the U.S.
In an email to Congress, a top Pentagon official said the proposal could help avoid any “negative readiness impacts on military facilities” that might result from listing the sage grouse and lesser-prairie chicken as endangered.
The statement by Pete Giambastiani, a legislative affairs aide, directly repudiates comments Wednesday by Pentagon officials calling the GOP proposal unnecessary. The House-approved language would block endangered-species listing for the two birds for 10 years.
The birds have become flashpoints in an ongoing battle over whether they warrant federal protection that hinders mining and other development from Kansas to California.
In a one-paragraph position paper made public…
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Exposing the Big Game 
Should have been listed as endangered when there was a chance. 😦