An effort to gather public comment on an amendment to the forest plan to restore habitat for the greater sage grouse will visit Minden and Smith Valley in early January.Keeping the grouse from being named an endangered species has been a long-term project for Nevadans. State officials approved spending around $300,000 in October to fund an effort to show the federal government that Nevada is on top of protecting the bird and that listing it as endangered isn’t necessary.However, a report issued by the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service said listing the bird as endangered was warranted, prompting the Forest …