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have wide-ranging economic impact on the rural economies in the region. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada said the decision will have "major ramifications" on the way of life in parts of Nevada and California.
• "This listing is further proof that we need to work together to protect sensitive species before they get to such a dismal point and negatively affect our rural economies," Reid said in a statement.
• The final decision on the service's proposal will occur next year, and the public will have 60 days to comment.
• Ranchers, miners and energy developers who use the mostly public lands that serve as the sage grouse's habitat have opposed the listing, saying it would have a deep economic impact in the rural West.
• Friday's proposed listing comes as the service is also determining whether the entire western sage grouse population should be federally protected. Sage grouse also live in Colorado, Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, Washington, Wyoming and parts of Canada.
• Ranchers worry that protections will scuttle or block outright vast grazing areas. They say it adds a lot of uncertainty to any plans to expand or even launch habitat restoration plans on their lands.
• "For guys talking about expansion and going to the bank for loan, I'm not sure what the bank is going to tell me," said JJ Goicoechea, a rancher and veterinarian who is president of the Nevada Cattlemens Association.
• "And the rural economy is heavily dependent on those ranching families, who generate revenues that help keep towns and schools running. What's going to happen to those rural communities?" he asked.
• The Center for Biological Diversity, which sued the service to protect the sage grouse, said the decision was long overdue.
• "The sage grouse we have here in Nevada and California is a true symbol of all that is wild -- what a relief that it's finally getting the protection it needs to survive," Rob Mrowka, a Nevada-based center ecologist, said in a statement.
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• SPEARFISH, S.D. (AP) -- A North Dakota man has been sentenced in South Dakota to seven years in prison for causing an accident that killed his front-seat passenger.
• Gabriel Culver, of Dickinson, N.D., earlier pleaded guilty to drinking and driving.
• The 27-year-old used to live in Spearfish and was driving a pickup on April 26

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