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BLM Announces New Sage-Grouse Conservation Strategy

Date
July 21, 2011
Contact
Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221
In This Release
Climate + Energy, Wildlife   Greater sage grouse
#KeepItInTheGround, #SafeguardTheSagebrushSea
Thursday, July 21, 2011
BLM Announces New Sage-Grouse Conservation Strategy

Conservationists Urge Agency to Address Multiple Threats to the Species
Contact: Mark Salvo (503) 757-4221

Additional Contact:

Steve Holmer, Senior Policy Advisor, American BirdConservancy * 202-234-7181 x 216 * sholmer@abcbirds.org

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) hasrecognized that current management is failing to conserve Greater Sage-Grouseon public land, and announced today that it will develop a new rangewideconservation strategy for the species. The agency has provided little detail onhow the new plan will be developed and what management changes it may propose.

“This plan is long overdue, and we stillneed to know what BLM intends to do for sage-grouse,” said Mark Salvo, Directorof the Sagebrush Sea Campaign for WildEarth Guardians. “What prescriptions willit include for energy development, livestock grazing, and cheatgrass control?The devil is in the details.”

The agency’s announcement followsrequests by conservation organizations, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, anddirectors of four western state fish and wildlife agencies for the BLM to developnew and improved regulatory mechanisms to conserve and restore sage-grouse andsagebrush habitat. The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service found current BLMresource management plans lacking when it declared the Greater Sage-Grouse acandidate for Endangered Species Act listing in March 2010.

Conservation organizations havepreviously described what a range-wide sage-grouse conservation plan mustinclude to be successful. The plan must involve all relevant federal agenciesand cover all federal public lands, not just BLM land; it must be based on thebest available science on Sage-grouse and sagebrush steppe; prescriptions forconserving grouse must be regulatory, not voluntary; and all affected localland use plans must be amended so that the same prescriptions are appliedthroughout the range of sage-grouse.

“BLM must involve other agencies in itsplanning process, and it cannot ignore science indicating that oil and gasdrilling, wind energy development, grazing, roads, and utility corridors are hazardousto sage-grouse,” said Steve Holmer, Senior Policy Advisor for American BirdConservancy. “Other bird species of conservation concern such as SageThrasher, and Brewer’s and Sage Sparrows should also be considered.”

In addition to prompting fromconservation organizations and other agencies, the BLM may be motivated by arecent agreement between WildEarth Guardians and the U.S. Fish and WildlifeService to proceed with listing decisions for 251 candidate species, including GreaterSage-Grouse, over the next five years. Once certified by a federal court, the agreementrequires the Service to submit either a proposed rule or a not warrantedfinding for sage-grouse by FY 2015.

The Greater Sage-Grouse is both an indicator andumbrella species for the sagebrush-steppe ecosystem. First described by Lewisand Clark in 1805, Nineteenth Century travelers and settlers reported hugeflocks of sage-grouse that darkened the sky as they lifted from valley floors.The historic range of the Greater Sage-Grouse closely conformed to thedistribution of sagebrush-steppe in what became thirteen western states andthree Canadian provinces. However, since 1900 sage-grouse populations havedeclined. Greater Sage-Grouse distribution has been reduced by almost half,while range-wide abundance has decreased between 67 and 99 percent fromhistoric levels.

 

Other Contact
Steve Holmer, Senior Policy Advisor, American Bird Conservancy * 202-234-7181 x 216 * sholmer@abcbirds.org