Fact Sheet: Proposed Withdrawal from Mineral Entry in Sagebrush Focal Areas

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) identified habitat disturbance and fragmentation caused by certain hardrock mining operations as a threat to sage-grouse habitat. As a result, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land use plans recommend that the Secretary of the Interior exercise the authority granted by the Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA) to safeguard the most important landscapes identified by the FWS within Priority Habitat Management Areas – identified as Sagebrush Focal Areas – by withdrawing them from the operation of the hardrock mining law.

With the finalization of the BLM-USFS plans, the Secretary is taking prompt action to consider the recommendations. Through a public, transparent process, the Interior Department will seek to ensure that the Sagebrush Focal Areas that anchor the range-wide conservation strategy for the greater sage-grouse are protected from the threat of hardrock mining, subject to valid existing rights.