"The Fish and Wildlife Service today proposed easing protections for the American burying beetle, a longtime burr under the oil and gas industry's saddle.

In a much-anticipated announcement, the service proposed downlisting the beetle to threatened from endangered under the Endangered Species Act.

"Working collaboratively for almost three decades with states, zoos, federal agencies, private landowners and others ... we have made some positive steps forward and are now proposing to downlist the beetle," FWS Southwest Regional Director Amy Lueders declared in a statement.

As part of a so-called 4(d) rule that's allowed for threatened but not endangered species, oil and gas operations and other activities that potentially disrupt beetle habitat through part of its range would be exempt from ESA's "incidental take" permit requirements."

Michael Doyle repoets for Greenwire May 1, 2019. [2]