The public comment period closes next week on the Biden administration's plan to protect the sage grouse, a bird whose health is linked to the larger ecosystem called the Sagebrush Sea.

The species' U.S. range runs through 10 states from northeast California and Nevada eastward to the Dakotas and Colorado.

Vera Smith, senior federal lands policy analyst for Defenders of Wildlife, said there is concern it may be on a trajectory toward extinction.

"Its range is about 50% of what it used to be," Smith pointed out. "Its populations have declined about 80% over the last 60 years, and about 40% in the last 20 years."

The sage grouse is considered a focal species, meaning as it declines, so likely do other species in its range, such as the pygmy rabbit, mule deer and pronghorn. The Obama administration released the Greater Sage Grouse Conservation Strategy in 2015, but the Trump administration weakened it four years later.

Smith argued the latest plans do not go far enough to shield the birds from disturbance. Instead, she advocated for limits on mining and at least a 4-mile buffer zone of protection in areas where sage grouse breed.

"That draft proposal makes some changes but in many ways sort of sets into concrete the amendments that the Trump administration put into place," Smith noted. "The current proposal that is by the BLM is weaker than what was put forth in 2015."

Public comment is open until June 13. The agency will release its final Environmental Impact Statement in the fall.

A federal judge in Montana is holding a hearing next Tuesday on a motion for an injunction against the Pintler Face logging and burning project on Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest.

A coalition of conservationists and activists has sued to stop work altogether.

The Pintler project is located about 10 miles northwest of Wise River, Montana, and calls for bulldozing in 11 miles of new logging roads to gain access to 3,400 acres of clear-cuts, prescribed burns and logging of more than 560 acres of aspen. It would also log another 5,800 acres in a commercial segment of the project.

Mike Garrity, executive director of the Alliance for the Wild Rockies, said all told, there could not be a more devastating spot for this type of project because it disrupts a continuous ecosystem he said lynx and grizzly bears need to thrive.

"If we want these species to eventually be recovered and removed from the Endangered Species List, we need to have one connected population to prevent inbreeding," Garrity explained.

Critics of the lawsuit and supporters of the Pintler project said it would make strides to preventing wildfires and also backtrack on years of economic development the state has made in the region.

Beyond the sheer size of the project and the devastation it would do to the Anaconda Pintler Wilderness ecosystem, Garrity argued critical wildlife habitat would be at risk and one of the world's most natural and efficient carbon sinks would be threatened.

"These are old-growth forests," Garrity pointed out. "One of the best things about old-growth forests in addition to providing great wildlife habitat is they absorb carbon and they do it for free. It's one of the most effective methods of pulling greenhouse gases from the atmosphere."

Garrity argued the U.S. Forest Service sidestepped a mandatory Environmental Impact Statement and a policy act by secretly removing lynx designations and pretended that 145 miles of roads in the project area were not there so the logging could go forward. It is important because most grizzlies are killed within a third of a mile of a road. The coalition wants the judge to stop all work on the area until the entire case is decided.

The recently finalized Bureau of Land Management Public Lands Rule could give a boost to America's most at-risk terrestrial vertebrates: amphibians and reptiles.

The new rule allows land managers to prioritize habitat restoration for the first time.

J.J. Apodaca, executive director of the Amphibian and Reptile Conservancy, said it is a big win, because unlike other wildlife that can migrate -- like mule deer who can travel nearly 20 miles in a day -- turtles, frogs, salamanders and snakes depend on good habitat, where they live now.

"When habitat is lost for an amphibian or reptile, that often means that the population is lost," Apodaca pointed out. "They don't have the ability, like a wolf, to go counties away and find other suitable habitat. They're kind of tied to what is there."

Restoring habitat lost due to human development is also seen as important for mitigating the worst impacts of a changing climate for turtles, snakes and the rest of earth's life forms. The BLM's decision to put conservation uses of lands owned by all Americans on equal footing with drilling and mining has drawn criticism. Rep. Lauren Boebert, R-Colo., called the move a land grab meant to block oil and gas development.

Apodaca noted with some 245 million acres of public lands managed by the BLM, there is plenty of room to make good decisions recognizing multiple priorities, which can now also include conservation.

"I don't think anybody in the conservation world is thinking that there's going to be no extraction of any kind of resources from BLM lands," Apodaca emphasized. "However, that doesn't mean that we can't do it in a smart way that balances extraction and biodiversity."

Apodaca added the new rule is in sync with a majority of Americans who value natural landscapes and thriving wildlife and ecosystems. For too long, he argued, the sole focus has been on what can be taken out of public land.

"We've ignored the value that's already there," Apodaca stressed. "Whether that's recreation, whether that's clean water, clean air, biodiversity, all of those things."


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An upcoming festival in Columbus, Ohio, aims to raise awareness about the plight of pollinators and ongoing conservation efforts.

According to the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, as of 2020 there are more than 70 species of pollinators marked as endangered or threatened. Climate change is blamed for driving the numbers of North American bumblebees down nearly 50% since 1974.

Kenia Lamarr, an artist in Columbus, noted the rusty-patched bumblebee, listed as a federally endangered species in 2017, is now only rarely spotted in Ohio. Lamarr recently created a mural in honor of the species in the Columbus's Linden neighborhood. She said public art displays can play a role in capturing attention and inspiring action toward conservation efforts.

"While I was working on the mural, community members stopped in and were able to have conversations with me and to express their connection to the bumblebee," Lamarr recounted.

The Endangered Species Coalition is commemorating 50 years of the Endangered Species Act by sponsoring murals throughout the country. A pollinator festival and party on June 15 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. in Linden will celebrate the mural's unveiling.

Dianne Kadonaga, owner of Sunny Glen community garden and coordinator for the group Connecting Community Corridor of People Pollinators and the Planet, said at least 20% of households in Linden and the surrounding region lack access to reliable transportation, so having access to a hyper-local garden allows people to share garden equipment, seeds and plants, and knowledge.

"I wanted to keep the project hyper-local within a mile or two of the Sunny Glen garden," Kadonaga explained. "It's the main demonstration garden, where we have a pocket pollinator prairie garden, a woodland garden and a rain garden, all with native plants to the area."

Sunny Glen will be giving away native plants on June 15 which specifically help support the rusty-patched bumblebee, and many other pollinators and local wildlife.


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