WYOMING — A June 1 letter submitted to the Biden Administration on behalf of conservation groups states that some of the preliminary alternatives presented in the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) March Greater Sage-Grouse Planning newsletter ignore the science showing what the birds need to survive.
The conservation groups included in the letter are Western Watersheds Project, American Bird Conservancy, Center for Biological Diversity and WildEarth Guardians.
The BLM’s newsletter considered amendments to its 2015 resource management plans to enhance greater sage-grouse conservation in 10 states including Wyoming. The BLM is responsible for managing about half of the nation’s remaining sage grouse habitat.
The letter claims the current range of alternatives for habitat management areas and land use allocations is incomplete, and consideration was not given to the fact that oil and gas infrastructure impacts can radiate outward over three miles from the site of activity. Additionally, the letter points out that Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC), highlighting areas where special management attention is needed, were not included for consideration in every action alternative the newsletter presented.
“These half-measures aren’t working, and the Bureau is going to have to provide for real habitat protections if it is going to save the sagebrush sea,” said Steve Holmer of American Bird Conservancy in a press release from the conservation groups.
The letter also claims the BLM plans allow too many discretionary exemptions from prioritizing greater sage-grouse protection.
“We know what it takes to protect greater sage-grouse and their habitat,” said Joe Bushyhead, endangered species attorney with WildEarth Guardians. “It’s time for the Bureau of Land Management to implement consistent, scientifically-sound protections across the bird’s range.”
The BLM is expected to release a draft environmental analysis with more detail and a public comment period this summer.
Greater sage-grouse populations have declined due to oil and gas development, livestock grazing, roads, powerlines and other activities that have destroyed and fragmented their native habitats. The Wyoming Game and Fish Department emphasizes that habitat is key to the sustainability of sage-grouse.
Greater sage-grouse populations are tied to hundreds of other species that depend on the Sagebrush Sea ecosystem; according to the conservation groups’ press release, those species include pronghorns, elk, mule deer, golden eagles, native trout and migratory and resident birds.
