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House debates sage grouse resolution that would seek to block federal funding for 10 years
Summary
Lawmakers debated SCR 3, a concurrent resolution intended to reaffirm state primacy over Greater Sage Grouse conservation and urge Congress not to fund federal regulatory actions for a 10-year period; supporters argued it protects state management, opponents urged exhaustion of other options.
The Utah House of Representatives debated SCR 3 on March 3, a concurrent resolution urging Congress to refrain from funding federal regulatory action on Greater Sage Grouse habitat for a 10‑year period and reaffirming the state's primacy in managing the species. Debate included questions about whether state avenues had been exhausted and concerns about the economic implications of federal listing.
Sponsor Representative Sandal (floor sponsor) described the resolution as “reaffirm[ing] the state's commitment to conservation of the greater sage grouse” and stressed that the measure seeks to preserve state control. He said earlier legislative appropriations included $300,000 for a study related to basing and infrastructure, and argued state management had produced local population increases in some places.
Representative Mike Noel and others asked whether sage grouse are hunted in Utah and whether the state plan and other federal‑state options had been fully pursued before moving to defund federal activity. Representative Sandal replied that under the state management plan some populations are sufficient to allow hunting and that the sponsor believed withholding federal funding for a 10‑year period would help keep management in state hands.
Representative Ivory warned of substantial economic risk if federal control superseded state management, saying that federal action could amount to “tens of billions of dollars in negative impact to the state” in the areas affected. Several members pressed the sponsor to confirm that alternative steps had been exhausted; supporters emphasized the state's ongoing implementation and conservation work.
The floor paused for a technical reboot before opening the formal vote; the transcript ends before a recorded result appears in the provided portion.
What’s next: The House prepared to open the vote after a brief procedural pause; the outcome is not recorded in the supplied transcript excerpt.
