Attorney General Adam Laxalt admitted a "rift" exists with fellow Republican, Governor Brian Sandoval.
Sandoval has expressed frustration that Laxalt joined a lawsuit against the federal government that would stop a deal from moving forward to protect the greater sage grouse.
Sandoval supports the deal, which he has said was five years in the making and preserves some areas for the sage grouse, but keeps the bird of the very restrictive endangered species list.
In response to the lawsuit, the U.S. Department of Justice said Tuesday that it might reconsider and put the bird onto that list.
But Laxalt told KNPR's State of Nevada that while he and the governor do not see eye to eye on this issue, he believes the lawsuit will strengthen Nevada's negotiating power with the federal government.
He also said he is pursuing the matter, in part, because that's what he campaigned for: protecting state rights.
Laxalt was responding after Steve Sebelius, a political commentator for the Las Vegas Review-Journal, and host of a new political talk show, Politics Live, said Laxalt's decision to join the lawsuit was motived by his desire for higher office.
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Adam Laxalt, Nevada attorney general
