CASPER, Wyo. (AP) - The U.S. Bureau of Land Management plans to decide by the end of the month where to limit coal-bed methane development in the Powder River Basin as it considers how to protect sage grouse there.

BLM officials say that if allowed to continue, the coal-bed methane industry's current practices could result in killing off sage grouse in the Powder River Basin. They say the bird population there has ties to other important populations in Wyoming and Montana.

The agency says it needs to curb development in the Powder River Basin over the next two years while it rewrites its management plan for the area.