Rocky Mountain Region – National Greater Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy
The Rocky Mountain Region includes Colorado, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, northeastern Utah, and Wyoming.
Background
In March 2010, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) published its listing decision for the greater sage-grouse as “Warranted but Precluded.” Inadequacy of regulatory mechanisms was identified as a major threat to the species in the USFWS finding on the petition to list the greater sage-grouse. The USFWS has identified the principal regulatory mechanism for the BLM as conservation measures in Resource Management Plans (RMPs).
Based on the identified threats to the greater sage-grouse and the USFWS timeline for making a listing decision on this species, the BLM needs to incorporate explicit objectives and adequate conservation measures into RMPs within the next 3 years in order to conserve greater sage-grouse and avoid a potential listing under the Endangered Species Act. The planning strategy will evaluate the adequacy of BLM RMPs and address, as necessary, revisions and amendments throughout the range of the greater sage-grouse (with the exception of the bi-state population in California and Nevada and the Washington state population segment, which will be addressed through other planning efforts).
The BLM has determined that the proposed strategy is a major federal action which requires the preparation of Environmental Impact Statements (EISs) in accordance with the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA). The BLM will seek public and agency input to identify issues to address in the EISs and coordinate with other federal, state, and local government agencies in preparing the EISs. The BLM will conduct detailed environmental studies on the proposed and alternative policies, and analyze how implementation of the policies may affect the quality of the environment.
Overview of the National Planning Strategy
The BLM is developing a national strategy to preserve, conserve, and restore sagebrush habitat, the ecological home of the greater sage-grouse. The BLM will issue national policy and direction, based on local needs and information, to guide the agency’s actions and raise the importance of sagebrush conservation in BLM planning efforts. At the local level, the BLM will initiate or continue to work on formal plan “amendments” for BLM RMPs to reflect new conservation measures. Greater sage-grouse habitat is addressed in as many as 98 current BLM RMPs or Management Framework Plans (the name given to an earlier generation of RMPs).
For the purposes of this planning effort, the BLM has divided the greater sage-grouse’s range into an Rocky Mountain and Great Basin Region. This division allows for closer cooperation and partnerships on region-specific conservation and habitat restoration measures. Sage-grouse face distinct challenges in different parts of the country. For example, wildfire is a large challenge in the Great Basin Region, whereas energy development is fragmenting habitat in the Rocky Mountain Region. Dividing the greater sage-grouse’s range into two regions makes it easier to tailor conservation actions to the specific conditions of an area.
A flow chart shows how this strategy is structured.
Rocky Mountain Region Planning Strategy
Regional efforts will also allow the BLM to focus on the differing threats and conservation opportunities available between the two regions. The Rocky Mountain Region (Colorado, most of Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, northern and northeastern Utah and Wyoming) will focus on addressing the continued loss, fragmentation and degradation of greater sage-grouse habitat as a result of energy development and the accompanying infrastructure. The Great Basin Region will also address other threats identified through the planning process.
The BLM is developing interim management measures with the help of our state and federal partners to help ensure that sagebrush habitat is conserved in the short term until we can address conservation measures through resource management plan RMP amendments or revisions as necessary. RMPs are the BLM’s basic land-use plans and provide the platform for long-term decisions effecting public land management over the next 15-25 years.
We’ll start the process to amend or revise RMPs to reflect new conservation measures, starting in fall 2011.
The EIS process is guided by NEPA. As with all EISs, the NEPA process is kicked off with the publication of a Notice of Intent (NOI) in the Federal Register. You can view the NOI under this site’s Documents and Resources page.
We’ll need the help of the public as we move forward. In early 2012, we’ll begin the “public scoping” process where we ask interested people, organizations and other agencies for their thoughts and opinions. Where the public scoping process is not appropriate or available, the BLM will hold additional public workshops to engage the public while we address the needs of the greater sage-grouse on BLM lands. All public involvement will culminate with publication of several Final EISs in 2014.
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