Official announcements by the Interior Department, shared on Friday, revealed that protection for the greater sage grouse under the Endangered Species Act has been delayed by a minimum of a year. A symbol of the West's rapidly dwindling sagebrush landscape, experts believe that the protection for the bird should have been provided long back, and the latest delay has come as another setback.

Instead of putting the bird under protection, the Department issued a "warranted but precluded" designation for it, which means that while it does meet the scientific criteria set down for protection, other species are a higher priority.

The status of the greater sage grouse will now be reviewed annually.

Had the bird been listed as endangered, chances are that oil and gas projects across the Western states could have come to a halt, and the development would probably have ended hunting of the greater sage grouse, which is currently allowed by many states.

"We must find common-sense ways of protecting, restoring and reconnecting the Western lands that are most important to the species' survival, while responsibly developing much-needed energy resources", Interior Secretary Ken Salazar said.