Washington, D.C. – U.S. Senator Jim Risch (R-ID) issued the following statement about the Department of Interior's announcement that they will take public comments on Sage-Grouse conservation plans to help improve the Bureau of Land Management's current land use plans.

“The last administration invited the western governors to create their own Sage-Grouse management plans. Those plans were subsequently rewritten on the banks of Potomac. I commend Secretary Zinke for trying to right that wrong. I support Zinke's and Governor Otter's efforts to adopt Idaho’s Sage-Grouse conservation plan that was created using the collaborative model.”