Separate quarters, common goals: Greater & Gunnison sage-grouse

The BLM has completed an environmental impact statement (EIS) with proposed amendments to 11 resource management plans (RMPs) that guide management of habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse, Centrocercus minimus, which was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2014. 

Gunnison sage-grouse are genetically distinct from greater sage-grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, and the two species’ habitats do not overlap. Because the Gunnison grouse is ESA-listed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has primary responsibility for designating habitat and establishing the management actions to achieve conservation and recovery. 

The plan amendments related to Gunnison sage-grouse conservation are separate from ongoing planning for managing greater sage-grouse habitat on BLM-managed public lands. We are currently reviewing comments received on draft environmental analysis of options for amending 77 RMPs covering nearly 67 million acres of greater sage-grouse habitat in 10 states, and expect to publish a final EIS with proposed amendments by the end of 2024. 

Two Centrocercus urophasianus populations are not included in the ongoing planning:  

• Habitat for greater sage-grouse in Washington state includes relatively little BLM-managed land, so management actions in our plans have little if any influence on conservation there.
   
• The Bi-state greater sage-grouse population in portions of eight counties along the central California-Nevada border is recognized as biologically distinct from the one whose habitat includes BLM-managed lands along the northeastern portion of that border, which are part of the ongoing planning.