For Immediate Release: November 19, 2007
Contact: Mel Lloyd BLM 970-244-3097

Gunnison sage grouse working group to meet in Hotchkiss

MONTROSE, Colo. — The Bureau of Land Management Uncompahgre Field Office (UFO) is coordinating a working group meeting to discuss the Crawford population of the Gunnison sage grouse.  The meeting is scheduled for 1 p.m., Thursday, Nov. 29, at the Hotchkiss Annex for Delta County, located at 196 W. Hotchkiss Ave., in Hotchkiss.
Interested parties, including the public-at-large, are invited to participate in the meeting.   The working group’s objective is to look at what should be done for the management of the Gunnison sage grouse in the Crawford area.  BLM issued a progress report in 2006 entitled the Crawford Sage Grouse Population; Habitat Improvement Projects and Conservation Plan Progress Evaluation.

“We will be reviewing the Crawford Area Gunnison Sage Grouse Conservation Plan, which was originally developed by the Uncompahgre Field Office and its partners in 1998,” Biological Staff Supervisor Missy Siders said.  “There will also be discussions regarding the current status of the Crawford area population.”  Other meeting topics include updates on BLM’s Healthy Lands Initiative, as well as a briefing on potential projects in the area.

Throughout the past several years, a number of partners have worked closely with the BLM toward improving habitat and ensuring the future of the Gunnison sage grouse population of the Crawford area.  Those partners include: Black Canyon Audubon Society, Colorado Division of Wildlife, Consolidated Woolgrowers Association, Delta County Livestock Association, Delta and Montrose Counties, USDA Natural Resource Conservation Service, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Monument and Curecanti National Recreation Area, as well as members of the public-at-large. 

For more information about the Crawford Sage Grouse Working Group or to add your name to the mailing list, contact Missy Siders at (970) 240-5332 or by e-mail at msiders@blm.gov. 

-BLM-