News Brief
The Bureau of Land Management is once again reviewing how it manages sage grouse habitat across 10 Western states.
Before we get into the details, though, let鈥檚 rewind. Back in 2015, a bunch of public and private stakeholders created land use plans across the West to protect sage grouse and avoid an Endangered Species Act listing.
For many states, that plan changed in 2019, favoring more industry and development. But a federal judge in Idaho , and last year the Biden administration restored the plans adopted in 2015.
Now, the BLM is looking at its land use plans again.
鈥淭he BLM will examine new scientific information, including the effects of stressors like climate change, invasive grasses, wildfire and drought, to assess actions that may best support sagebrush habitat conservation and restoration on public lands to benefit sage grouse and surrounding communities,鈥� the agency .
That also includes reviewing challenges with wild horse and burro populations, and the development of renewable energy, fossil fuels and energy transmission.
鈥淒epending on who you talk to, people are calling this the sage grouse plans 3.0 or the 20th round of sage grouse restoration policy plans,鈥� said Brian Brooks, executive director of the nonprofit Idaho Wildlife Federation.
Brooks said that while all this has been happening, the grouse鈥檚 populations continued to shrink.
鈥淪ince we started in earnest tracking sage grouse numbers, the population has declined by 80%,鈥� he said, noting recent USGS findings that the decline .
Brooks said that shows the sage grouse conservation plans require big changes to avoid an endangered species listing, which would impose broad and potentially burdensome federal restrictions across public and private lands.
鈥淲e really can鈥檛 just be rearranging chairs on the Titanic here to do little tweaks here and there to stop a sinking ship. We really need to look at what is causing it to sink,鈥� he said.
When it comes to issues like wildfire's impacts on sage grouse habitat, Brooks says part of the problem is invasive species like cheatgrass, which than many other native plants.
鈥淔ire in itself is not always bad, it鈥檚 invasive species that burn very easily and have lots of fuels that make fires a lot worse,鈥� he said. 鈥淟ittle patch fires here and there (are) actually quite good.鈥�
He says the Idaho Wildlife Federation is currently working with agriculture, sportsmen and energy interests in an effort to jointly write suggestions and comments for the BLM plan.
The public can comment on the plan, too, through February 8. Just go to the . To watch some of the public meetings BLM has held on the matter, you can find recordings of those .
This story was produced by the Mountain West News Bureau, a collaboration between Nevada Public Radio, Wyoming Public Media, Boise State Public Radio in Idaho, KUNR in Nevada, the O'Connor Center for the Rocky Mountain West in Montana, 萝莉少女 in Colorado, KUNM in New Mexico, with support from affiliate stations across the region. Funding for the Mountain West News Bureau is provided in part by the .
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