With a highly anticipated ESA listing decision expected next week, experts who have closely followed the status of the greater sage grouse believe the Fish and Wildlife Service will render a "warranted but precluded" decision for the bird. Photo courtesy Utah Div. of Wildlife Resources.

After more than a year of research and collaboration with Wyoming officials to conserve greater sage grouse and its habitat, the Fish and Wildlife Service should announce next week whether the iconic Western bird will become a federally protected species.

Or, perhaps not.

While FWS has remained tight-lipped about the pending decision, other government officials and environmentalists say they believe the agency is set to choose a third option: A "warranted but precluded" listing, which means the scientific evidence supports listing the grouse as threatened or endangered, but regulators cannot proceed with a listing because of an immense backlog of candidate species that also merit protection.

Under a "warranted but precluded" listing, FWS would rank the sage grouse among the 279 other candidate species based on the likelihood of imminent extinction, the number and severity of threats pushing the bird toward extinction, and what, if anything, is being done to protect it. Candidate species ranked highest on the FWS scale receive priority treatment, including possible Endangered Species Act listings. Those that rank low on the list can await further action for years, or even decades. Go to story #1