The Trump administration is plotting to remove protections for the Greater Sage-Grouse and its habitat, as conservation groups warn that such actions could devastate grouse populations.
A 2015 federal management plan promised to ensure sage-grouse protection, but the government now proposes revising it, making it easier for oil and gas companies to run rampant on public lands where the birds live. Guardians and allies are urging Interior Secretary Zinke to adopt the scientific recommendations of the Bureau of Land Management’s sage-grouse team, which offer guidelines on minimizing disturbances to the birds and their homes.
The grouse, a wildly popular and iconic symbol of the American West, is reliant on wide-open sagebrush basins to survive. Year after year, they gather in the spring at small arenas called leks to dance, display, and mate. Their mating dance is one of the West’s great natural spectacles.
Read the press release.
