CHEYENNE -- Wyoming and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service have formally agreed to work together to prevent species from being listed under the Endangered Species Act.

Gov. Dave Freudenthal, Wyoming Game and Fish Department Director Terry Cleveland, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service acting Regional Director Jay Slack signed the agreement Wednesday.

Cleveland said the agreement formalizes an existing relationship between Wyoming and the Fish and Wildlife Service.

"To this point, we've had a good working relationship with the service," Cleveland said. "Not that we haven't had differences of opinion. But certainly we've worked through some difficult issues over the past few years."

Only Arizona has a similar agreement with the Fish and Wildlife Service.

Wyoming has a history of suing the agency over endangered and threatened species. The state sued in 2004 over how wolves will be managed in Wyoming after their removal from endangered species protection. The state and Fish and Wildlife Service this year agreed on a wolf management plan for Wyoming.

In 2003, Wyoming sued the agency over the Preble's meadow jumping mouse. The two sides settled the lawsuit last summer. On Nov. 1, the Fish and Wildlife Service announced plans to lift protection for the mouse in Wyoming while keeping the mouse listed as threatened in Colorado.

Now, Wyoming officials say they want to prevent sage grouse from being listed -- especially after a recent federal court ruling that the Fish and Wildlife Service ignored expert advice and needs to reconsider its decision to deny federal protection for sage grouse.

The presence of any endangered or threatened species can hold up development, such as the gas drilling that occurs in much of Wyoming.

"If you watch what has happened with the Preble's, the state had a lot of information, frankly, that didn't get into the process. You ended up with an extenuated process where it got listed and then they've been delisted in part, in Wyoming," Freudenthal said.

"What we're hoping is that by our devoting resources earlier on in the system and in the process, we avoid that sort of circumstance in the future."

Along with sharing information, Cleveland said the Game and Fish Department and Fish and Wildlife Service will work together to help species before they're listed.

"In other words, when a species looks like it has the potential to be listed, we'll work cooperatively with the service on developing protocols and processes we might use to hopefully not have a species listed," Cleveland said.

Slack said the agreement spoke to his agency's evolving relationship with Wyoming. Freudenthal suggested that the relationship has been improving.

"I don't know whether it's the Christmas season or just the day, but I have good things to say about the service today," he said.