{"database": "press", "table": "releases", "rows": [["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=e0c64499-199f-4b80-800d-2621a56f828e", "Senators Hatch and Lee Comment on Gunnison Sage Grouse Decision", "2014-11-13", "2014", "2014-11", "Republican", "House", "UT", "Orrin Hatch", "H000338", "www.hatch.senate.gov", null, null, "legacy", "Washington, D.C.\u2014Utah Senators Orrin Hatch and Mike Lee released the following joint statement on the decision by the Fish and Wildlife Service to grant the Gunnison Sage Grouse protected status under the Endangered Species Act\u00a0(ESA):\u00a0\r\n\"Once again, the federal government has put forward new regulations that will make life difficult for Utahns\u00a0and disrupt the Utah economy. \u00a0As a result of this decision, even more land\u00a0on which\u00a0Utahns have depended\u00a0for generations to support\u00a0their families\u00a0will\u00a0become subject to onerous restrictions imposed by\u00a0bureaucrats in Washington, D.C. \u00a0Worst of all,\u00a0this listing was\u00a0simply\u00a0unnecessary. \u00a0As our\u00a0own Director of Utah\u2019s Division of Wildlife Resources has said, federal protections will actually make it more difficult to help the bird, by undermining the voluntary efforts of landowners, local officials, and environmental groups that have successfully maintained the Gunnison Sage Grouse population and conserved their habitat for nearly two decades. \u00a0Despite these new regulations,\u00a0we will continue to fight\u00a0to protect the rights of states to manage wildlife within\u00a0their borders.\"\u00a0\r\nSenators Hatch and Lee have been actively involved in the\u00a0debate over the need for ESA protections of the\u00a0Gunnison Sage Grouse. \u00a0They have\u00a0co-written a letter alongside\u00a0five other senators and representatives from Utah and Colorado\u00a0requesting an extension of the comment period of the proposed rules for the Gunnison Sage Grouse in order to get local communities involved. \u00a0The Greater Sage Grouse\u2014a cousin to the Gunnison Sage Grouse\u2014has a larger presence in\u00a0the West and has been nominated for ESA protections. \u00a0A listing of the Greater Sage Grouse would be even more devastating than today\u2019s listing of the Gunnison Sage Grouse. \u00a0Both senators cosponsored legislation earlier this year that would require the secretaries of\u00a0Agriculture\u00a0and\u00a0the Interior\u00a0to provide assistance to states in developing their own conservation and management plans to protect and recover\u00a0sage grouse\u00a0species.", 1, "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z", "2026-03-30T12:14:52Z"]], "columns": ["url", "title", "date", "year", "month", "party", "chamber", "state", "member_name", "bioguide_id", "domain", "scraper", "source", "date_source", "text", "has_text", "collected_at", "updated_at"], "primary_keys": ["url"], "primary_key_values": ["https://www.hatch.senate.gov/public/index.cfm/releases?ContentRecord_id=e0c64499-199f-4b80-800d-2621a56f828e"], "units": {}, "query_ms": 2.9804520308971405, "source": "dwillis/congress-press", "source_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press", "license": "MIT", "license_url": "https://github.com/dwillis/congress-press/blob/main/LICENSE"}