THE USDA HAPPENS TO HAVE MILLIONS OF YOUR MONEY TO SPEND AS $211 MILLION SLATED TO PROTECT THE GROUSE IN CA,CO, ND,OR,ID,MT,UT,WA,AND WY JUST SO HAPPENS TO BE PRIME SPOTS IN NATURAL EARTH ENERGY PRODUCTION–AS THE SAGE GROUSE WILL GET SPECIAL TREATMENTS AS MONEYS PROVIDED TO FARMERS, RANCHERS AND LAND TWICE THE SIZE OF YELLOWSTONE TO BE CONFISCATED TO PROTECT THE LOOK AT THE GROUSE BIRD TO THE EVENTUAL TUNE OF $760 MILLION BY 2018

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack on Thursday unveiled the government’s plan to spend $211 million over the next four years to protect the sage grouse and its habitat.

Under what officials are calling the Sage Grouse Initiative 2.0, ranchers will receive additional financial assistance to improve conservation efforts on their land to benefit the bird and their agricultural operations, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA).

In a statement, Vilsack said these “efforts are also good for cattle, good for ranching operations, and good for America’s rural economy.”

The government, along with private groups, have been working on conserving land to protect sage grouse since 2010. They have conserved 4.4 million acres, an area that's twice the size of Yellowstone National Park.

Between 2010 and last year, the government spent $296.5 million on those projects. By the end of 2018, the USDA expects it will have spent $760 million along with private partners.

The department said it worked with nearly a dozen states on the strategy: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

http://thehill.com/policy/finance/252108-usda-announces-funding-new-strategy-to-protect-sage-grouse