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Trump and Harris notch easy wins as focus turns to battlegrounds; Experts express caution over post-election AI deepfakes; Report: Colorado's housing crisis linked to billionaire investors; Election Day is over; now it's a waiting game.

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A Cambodian poultry farmer who lost his livelihood could be a hero for others, rural Montanans are anxiously awaiting a court ruling over a climate lawsuit brought by young people, and Northeast states say more housing for working families could boost jobs.

Feds updating management plans for threatened sage grouse ecosystem

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Tuesday, June 18, 2024   

After nearly a decade of delays, a federal agency is working on a new resource management plan that will affect an iconic Western bird species.

The greater sage grouse is an umbrella species, meaning its health indicates the health of the whole ecosystem in which it lives. Neither is doing well. Efforts by the Trump administration to water down Obama-era protections for the bird were blocked by a federal court, so a new Bureau of Land Management plan will be the first since 2015.

Nearly 40% of the remaining sage grouse population lives in Wyoming, where its sagebrush steppe ecosystem has been declining because of livestock grazing, oil and gas development.

Erik Molvar, executive director of the Western Watersheds Project, said a new threat is emerging.

"The plan will also need to put in some sidebars to prevent the destruction of sage grouse habitat for renewable energy development, which is on the rise in Wyoming," he said.

The comment period closed last week for the latest draft amendments for 77 land-use plans, which would affect 69 million acres of public lands across 10 states. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, the sage grouse population has declined by 40% since 2002.

The BLM's focus in its management plans is on allowing multiple uses throughout its land base, and its 77 specified plans should have more uniform protections for sage grouse, instead of catering to the desires of local industry, Molvar said.

"If the Bureau of Land Management could bring this crazy quilt of different plan provisions and protection levels into a more consistent level of protection that meets the biological needs of the sage grouse, that would be ideal," he continued.

The bird was nearly added to the Endangered Species list in 2015, which would have placed it under stringent federal control. A final environmental impact statement is expected from the BLM this fall.


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