The Upper Snake Sage-Grouse Local Working Group
Idaho Falls/Salmon/Challis Field Office

 

The Upper Snake Sage-Grouse Local Working Group has focused on approximately 1.03 million acres of key sage-grouse habitat across 10 eastern Idaho counties. 

The group was convened by the Idaho Department of Fish and Game in December 1998 to develop a local plan that would use science and local knowledge to benefit sage-grouse.

The final plan supported by 45 contributing authors was completed in June 2004 and includes 136 recommendations grouped in the categories of habitat, population, partnerships, cultural/human, and information/education.

The plan and the group’s ongoing work have been incorporated into Idaho’s statewide sage-grouse conservation strategy.

The BLM, representatives of various Federal and state land management agencies, Tribes, environmentalists, conservationists, and the local ranching community cooperated to make this project a success.

The Upper Snake River LWG is one of five such groups working in the BLM's Upper Snake River District.  The group's area of interest also falls in one of the emphasis areas for the Department of Interior's Healthy Lands Initiative.

Local BLM contact: Karen Rice, BLM Upper Snake River District – (208) 524-7549

  

The Sage-Grouse Management Plan published by the State of Idaho in 1997 identifies Local Working Groups as the key to reaching target populations in each of 13 sage-grouse management areas.
 

Graphic credit: Idaho Dept. of Fish and Game