Public urged to weigh in during April over BLM's new plan for greater sage-grouse

The in-person meetings will be in an open-house format, including a presentation and opportunities for questions and answers, according to the Bureau of Land Management, which has drafted the resource management plan and environmental impact statement for the bird, which is not listed as endangered, but is known to be in decline.

The draft includes six proposed alternatives; it opened for comment on March 15, with the ability for the public to weigh in closing on June 13. Those wanting to check out the proposed amendment are in for some heavy reading: there are three volumes of information on the BLM National NEPA Register. Volume 1 is 661 pages and includes an executive summary, Chapters 1-6, glossary and index; Volume 2 is 147 pages and includes appendix 1 maps; Volume 3 is appendixes 2-19, including more maps among a host of other information, and is a whopping 1,620 pages.

Among many other details, maps show how southeastern Oregon, including Malheur County, includes a mix of general habitat management areas and priority habitat management areas, which are predominantly managed by the BLM.

According to an abstract in the first volume, the draft EIS analyzes six alternatives for habitat management. Alternative 1 is a continuation of management under the current resource management plans as amended in 2015. Alternative 2 would continue management under the RMPs amended in 2019. Alternative 3 has the most restrictions on resource uses to preserve” greater sage-grouse. Alternative 4, developed by the BLM, would “update habitat management area boundaries and associated management based on new information and science that has become available” since 2015 and 2019. Alternative 5 considers “other potential alignments of habitat management areas and associated management to try and balance [greater sage-grouse] conservation with public land uses. Lastly, Alternative 6 would be the same as Alternative 5 but adds in areas of critical environmental concern.

BLM’s preference

The abstract states that Alternative 5 is the agency’s preferred alternative, but states that identifying that as a preference “does not indicate any decision or commitments from the BLM.” It goes on to state that major planning actions addressed include habitat management area boundaries, disturbance caps, habitat objectives, adaptive management, mitigation, energy and minerals, renewable energy, livestock grazing, wild horses and burros and minimizing threats from predation.

A news release from the BLM on March 14 states that the analysis uses the best available science and lessons learned to benefit species and western communities, with input from local, state, federal and Tribal partners.

“Greater sage-grouse rely on sagebrush lands for all aspects of their life cycle to meet seasonal needs for food, cover and reproduction. A local population may need up to 40 square miles of intact landscape to stay healthy,” reads the release. “Populations once in the millions now number fewer than 800,000, largely due to habitat loss exacerbated by climate change, such as drought, increasing wildfires, and invasive species.”

It states that protecting and restoring sagebrush on BLM-managed public lands is critical for greater sage-grouse and other species, including mule deer, pronghorn and the pygmy rabbit. 

“Additionally, these collaboratively developed landscape-level plans will ensure that other multiple uses of BLM sagebrush lands – including clean energy projects – move forward in a manner that limits impacts to sensitive resources and can also help combat climate change — a main driver of greater sage-grouse habitat loss.” 

BLM Director Tracy Stone-Manning says the “majesty of the West and its way of life are at stake.”

Sage-grouse habitat in the U.S. totals 145 million aces and of that, the BLM manages 67 million acres. It states that the agency considered nearly 1,900 comments gathered during an initial scoping period which included more than 100 meetings. The upcoming meetings are designed to answer questions and take further comments on the draft alternatives and analysis.

Additional information included that the BLM is “actively restoring and conserving sagebrush habitat across the West through the Biden Administration’s ‘Investing in America’ agenda.”

The agency expects to issue a final EIS this fall, which will be followed by Records of Decision in each state.

Find all the information regarding the BLM and greater sage-grouse online at https://tinyurl.com/bdehp73a.

Mixed reactions

Reactions from conservation and advocacy organizations about the proposed updates were a mixed bag.

Center for Western Priorities Deputy Director Aaron Weiss said that it “represents the last best hope to save the sage-grouse and avoid a listing under the Endangered Species Act.”

Oregon Natural Desert Association stated that it has worked for decades to conserve and restore sage-grouse and their habitats in Oregon’s high desert and noted Oregon Dept. of Fish and Wildlife’s recently finalized new habitat maps for the bird in eastern Oregon.

"The Bureau of Land Management's new draft conservation plan could not come soon enough for greater sage-grouse. This iconic species has continued to decline in Oregon and across the West as habitat is lost and degraded by a multitude of factors,” said Mark Salvo, conservation director at ONDA. “Unfortunately, the Bureau's preferred management alternative will not be enough to reverse these trends. But the plan has all the right tools to shape a management strategy that can provide for sage-grouse and hundreds of other species that depend on Oregon's high desert.”

Multiple groups joined efforts in a news release speaking out against the draft amendment. These included Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity, American Bird Conservancy and Advocates for the West.

They stated the BLM’s preferred alternative “falls woefully short of what is needed to stem the bird’s downward population spiral,” and that it will “fail these iconic birds once again and keep them on an extinction trajectory.”

“To have any chance of saving this bird, we need stronger protections, not backsliding,” states Sarah Stellberg, staff attorney at Advocates for the West.