Greater Sage-Grouse
The greater sage-grouse inhabits some 150 million acres of sagebrush-steppe lands in western North America and may be best known for the distinctive mating ritual it performs on flat, open patches of the sagebrush sea. More densely vegetated parts of the ecosystem are crucial for later portions of the birds' lifecycle, carried on alongside more than 350 other species that inhabit the biome.
These same lands also sustain Western rural economies built on outdoor recreation, ranching, farming, energy development and small businesses.
For decades, federal, state and private land managers have worked to conserve and restore the sagebrush ecosystem, with federal agencies managing habitat on the lands whose surface they administer and states managing and monitoring wildlife populations.
Moving forward with habitat conservation
The BLM manages the largest share of sage-steppe habitat under resource management plans adopted in 2015. Monitoring data and the findings of new science show that in the intervening years, sage-grouse populations have continued to decline in some areas and that various factors - including the effects of climate change - have hindered habitat conservation and restoration.
The BLM is committed to reversing long-term downward trends in sage-grouse populations and habitats in a manner that fulfills our multiple-use and sustained yield mission and meets the needs of Western communities. Our goal continues to be balanced, sustainable management of sagebrush ecosystems to benefit hundreds of wildlife species as well as public land users and local communities across the West.
Safeguarding the most important habitat is essential to the long-term health of sage-grouse populations and is a key feature of the more than 70 management plans adopted in 2015. The BLM is currently considering amendments to these plans to support persistent, healthy sage-grouse populations consistent with policy and in cooperation with state governments and other conservation partners.
We will again rely on science and work closely with states, local governments, Indian Tribes and other partners in the cooperative fashion that has served us well for more than a decade.
Even as we engage in planning, the BLM continues to invest in treatments for sage-grouse habitat, to restore critical areas and make remaining habitat more resilient to various stressors and threats.
In addition, the agency continues revising its environmental analysis of withdrawing sagebrush focal areas (SFAs) from mineral location and entry using continued engagement with stakeholders and the best available science.
