Changes in regulations that will affect millions of acres of federal sage grouse habitat across the West are being praised by Western governors, including Wyoming’s Gov. Matt Mead. The new proposal from the Trump administration also triggered immediate disapproval by many conservation organizations.

“Having better alignment between state and federal management for the bird is important to the species and the people of Wyoming,” Mead said in a statement after the Bureau of Land Management announced the plan. “I thank the Department of the Interior, both locally and nationally, for working with Wyoming throughout this plan amendment process.”

The proposed changes would give more autonomy to 11 Western states. They come just three years after the collaborative regulations, a decade in the making, were credited for saving the grouse from receiving protections under the Endangered Species Act.

It also highlights a change in tone by Mead. When Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke initially signed Secretarial Order 3353, which ordered the review of sage grouse regulations, Mead was one of the most outspoken critics.

“This is not the right decision,” the governor wrote in a letter to Zinke in May of 2017.

However, Department of the Interior later dropped language that put less of an emphasis on habitat protections and encouraged the idea of augmenting wild populations through grouse farming.

Officials in Mead’s administration returned to negotiations, working closely with the federal government to make changes they felt important.

“We tried to be surgical in addressing changes,” said Bob Budd, chairman of Mead’s sage grouse implementation team, adding, “More of the existing plan remains than has been amended.”

The BLM echoes statements by Mead administration officials.

“This alternative does not propose to replace the 2015 plans, but instead builds on them to increase flexibility, maintain access to public resources, and promote conservation outcomes,” the agency said in a release Thursday. “Nearly three years of experience with the 2015 plans has shown the BLM and its partners what is working and what is not, and how the 2015 plans can be adjusted to recognize concerns.”

Changes in regulations include reclassifying more than 80 percent of land determined to be “focal” areas of habitat. Reclassified land will still carry the regulations of “core” habitat, but will concentrate more on determining the impact of development in the areas rather than banning leases. Wyoming has more than 15 million acres of core habitat within its borders. Reclassifying focal areas will help streamline decisions on leases, Budd said.

“It becomes more of a one-stop process. We’ve worked closely with [the BLM] to make the changes. It’s not a complete reversal of everything we did [during the collaboration],” he said.

Budd explained reclassification essentially does away with the difference between core and super-core habitat. “It doesn’t mean the areas will automatically be leased. It simply allows us to decide what is the potential, what is the impact and look at the risk versus the benefits of each [area],” Budd said. “Our commitment to the priorities of the [2015] plan hasn’t changed one iota.”

Changes on BLM land are just a start to making regulations more friendly to industry doing business in Wyoming, Budd said. The team is also currently working closely with U.S. Forest Service officials to resemble new BLM proposals. Wyoming has 26 percent of sage grouse habitat in the U.S. and 37 percent of the species population, making Wyoming the most important state in conservation efforts.

The changes drew immediate ire from many organizations included in the 2015 collaboration.

“In announcing these changes, Secretary Zinke is breaking a compromise deal made just three years ago by Westerners of all stripes, who set aside their differences to conserve key sage-grouse habitat and provide certainty for communities and industry around the region,” said Jesse Prentice-Dunn, policy director for the Center for Western Priorities. “Now, the Interior Department is punching oil rig-sized loopholes through the sage-grouse plans and preparing to gut the Endangered Species Act at the same time. It paints a grim future for the imperiled bird. Whether it’s caribou in Alaska, mule deer in Wyoming, or sage-grouse in Colorado, under Secretary Zinke, wildlife in the way of oil and gas development doesn’t stand a chance.”

The final environmental impact statement, which allows only 30 days for public comment, will force conservation groups into working through the holiday season in efforts to have their voices heard, said Brian Rutledge, the Audubon Society’s director of Sagebrush Ecosystem Initiative.

“There’s not a lot of holiday celebration for conservationists this year,” Rutledge said.

The decision to keep the species from being listed was based in large part on regulatory certainty, he said, and “the changes effectively eliminate certainty.”

Rutledge said the move is “playing into the federal government’s effort to clear the decks for gas and oil interests.” One of the rule changes also removes the responsibility to mitigate habitat damage from the federal government, instead making it voluntary as the individual state’s responsibility.

“We’re trying to hold the line on what our country is supposed to look like. This is not it,” Rutledge said.

According to a recent DOI report heralding the impact of Trump administration goals, the economic output of Interior’s federal lands and resources rose by 0.14 percent, increasing $400 million for a total of $292 billion. The relatively small gains are due, according to the DOI, to increased energy production and revenues, regulatory reform, changes to land uses and access, infrastructure projects, and other factors initiated by the Trump administration.

“Anyone who grew up in the West can tell you that federal lands are working lands and, if managed properly, they support jobs and economic activity for communities in industries like recreation, energy, agriculture, and mining,” Zinke said in a recent statement. “Rural communities relied on federal lands for jobs and resources. But for many years, much of the land and water was locked up and not available for use. Not anymore, not under President Trump. This report shows that thanks to smart regulatory reforms and increased access, federal lands and waters are once again increasing economic output and creating jobs.”