A Bush administration rule that gives federal agencies more leeway with the Endangered Species Act could imperil protected Greater Yellowstone species such as the Canada lynx, according to environmental groups.

The rule could also harm species such as sage grouse and wolverines, which have not yet made the list but are strong candidates for protection.

Bush administration officials finalized a rule last week that lets federal agencies decide whether to consult the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service when planning a project that could affect endangered species. Previously, agencies had to consult with the agency.

Wildlife advocates disapprove of the rule change, saying it removes a level of checks and balances for federal agencies and guts one of the most important provisions in the act.

Franz Camenzind, executive director of the Jackson Hole Conservation Alliance, said the rule affects Bridger-Teton National Forest and Bureau of Land Management projects in particular.

Camenzind pointed to a proposal for a precious metals exploratory mine in the Gros Ventre drainage. Under the new rules, the Forest Service would not have to consult with the Fish and Wildlife Service before the project starts.

“[The Forest Service] could make that determination on their own, regardless of the fact that there are wolves, lynx and wolverine up there,” Camenzind said. “Not all of those [species] are listed yet, but they are certainly candidates.”

The same holds true for the Federal Highway Administration and the Bureau of Reclamation, which operates the Jackson Lake Dam.

“The Federal Highway Administration would be the one that we consider the most autonomous, and even more so with this new Endangered Species Act rule,” Camenzind said.

Camenzind said an ongoing road construction project over Togwotee Pass used Federal Highway Administration funds and might have had a significant impact on endangered species without an Endangered Species Act review. One proposed design would have re-routed the road through critical grizzly bear and Canada lynx habitat to avoid several areas prone to landslides.

But perhaps the biggest threat to current and future endangered species under the new rule would come from proposed energy developments in Sublette County, Camenzind said.

This threat is especially true for sage grouse on Bureau of Land Management parcels. The Fish and Wildlife Service is currently reviewing the bird’s status after internal investigators determined Julie MacDonald, former Interior Department deputy assistant secretary, had tampered with scientific documents on whether the bird should be listed as an endangered species.

Derek Goldman, northern Rockies representative for the Endangered Species Coalition, agreed that sage grouse is one of the key species that could be harmed by the rule.

“This whole rule may have been targeted at sage grouse,” he said, adding that the bird inhabits a significant portion of land proposed for oil and gas leases in Wyoming. “The Bureau of Land Management could go ahead and authorize drilling permits and new wells without consulting with Fish and Wildlife Service biologists on the local impacts.”

Goldman said the Endangered Species Act isn’t so much an impediment to development as it is a method to make sure projects get developed responsibly. In a study that looked at 400,000 federal projects that received consultation under the Endangered Species Act between 1998 and 2004, less than 1 percent of those projects were halted.

Further, of the projects that did proceed, “They get a better outcome because they change the project in a way that species aren’t impacted,” he said. “The section 7 consultation under the Endangered Species Act is a pretty important section. It says the U.S. government shouldn’t be driving species to extinction.”

Also in Sublette County, officials with Bridger-Teton National Forest are currently reviewing two drilling proposals that could affect the Canada lynx and wolverine. The forest plans to release National Environmental Policy Act documents on 44,700 acres in the Wyoming Range in February and a Plains Exploration and Production proposal for wells on the Hoback Rim in March.

Mike Leahy, Rocky Mountain region director of Defenders of Wildlife, said those two projects highlight the need for Fish and Wildlife Service Review.

“The Bush administration has taken the scientists and the science out of wildlife management,” he said. “The problem with cutting them out is that you place the authority for determining impacts with agencies that have a vested interest in the projects that they want to go forward.”