1. ENDANGERED SPECIES:
Sage grouse heads toward 'candidate' status
The Obama administration today is expected to recognize the greater sage grouse -- a bird whose protection would conflict with Western energy development -- as needing federal protection, but to delay its entry to the Endangered Species List while devoting attention to higher-priority species. Interior Department Secretary Ken Salazar is scheduled to make a formal announcement this afternoon of what sources in Congress and elsewhere say will be a delay in a formal Endangered Species Act listing. Go to story #1