Sometime next year, the Fish and Wildlife Service will decide whether to include the greater sage grouse on an updated endangered species list. The decision could have profound impact on energy development in Western states. The energy industry is now making a push to keep the bird off the list.

That’s because the grouse, a ground-dwelling, two-foot-tall bird with brown and white feathers, has a massive habitat, running from California to Colorado and all states further north of that, encompassing 2.4 million acres. The total area of federal oil and gas leases currently on hold in Wyoming alone while the federal government mulls the decision is 10,000 acres.