In November, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) – from Washington, D.C. – issued a Federal Register Notice that they were going to update their Greater Sage Grouse management plans. This announcement started the clock ticking on a 75-day scoping process. During this time the agency is soliciting public comments, on what should go into the planning initiative.
This process is intended to produce a series of Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) which will cover the potential of changes to land use management plans in California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. In 2015 this same process produced the land use amendments for these same states. Federal agency higher-ups plugged in their ideas into the land use plans that they determined what would be best for Greater Sage Grouse conservation.
As the federal plans were being amended into land use management plans, a Nevada-developed Sage Grouse Management plan had been completed by the Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council. The Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council is a group of Governor-appointed representatives from different stakeholders and representatives of several state and federal government agencies. The authority for this nine-member body, plus nonvoting agency representatives, is covered in Nevada Revised Statutes (NRS) 232.162.
When the Nevada 2014 Greater Sage Grouse Conservation Plan was being developed it was intended that this state-based plan would be the conservation plan for managing sagebrush habitat in the state. At the very least it was hoped that the state plan would be included as an alternative to be evaluated when BLM went through their land use planning process. Ultimately those involved in the process higher up the ladder, decided the best approach would be for BLM to keep their plans and amend them into the many land use management plans across Sage Grouse states.
This 2015 Greater Sage Grouse Plan was updated with a set of changes brought forward by the Trump Administration in 2019. The amended 2019 version was challenged and over-turned by a judge in Wyoming, taking things back to the 2015 version, which is where things stand now.
BLM’s announced intention for this round of planning is to consider how a new version might amend the 2015 plans. The Federal Register Notice included the notation that where existing planning decisions are still valid, those decisions may remain unchanged and be incorporated into the amended land use plans. It also includes the parameters that this set of land use plan amendments will be limited to making land use planning decisions specific to the conservation of Greater Sage Grouse and sagebrush habitats (although there will also be consideration of the impacts of climate change).
As part of the documents made available for the process a 582-page, October 2021 document entitled “The Greater Sage-Grouse Plan Implementation – Range wide Monitoring Report for 2015-2020” was provided. This information covers an overview of what the status is on a range-wide basis, but also zeros in on the analysis assembled on an area-level planning basis. Nevada’s information is contained, along with the portion of Northern California that fits into this planning area, in Appendix 11 of the document.
The two distinct regional areas of BLM’s focus are the planning areas identified as being in the Great Basin Region and the Rocky Mountain Region.
Based on an initial review of the BLM Monitoring Report there are reasons to be concerned about the present status of the situation. Sagebrush habitat conditions have deteriorated over the timespan covered in the monitoring and the numbers of Greater Sage Grouse are also down.
“The analysis determines that sagebrush availability in all land ownership categories declined by approximately 3%,” the Executive Summary reports.
They go on to provide the specifics that this amounts to approximately 1.9 million acres total with 1.4 million acres in the Great Basin Region and 529,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain Region between 2012 and 2018. The details further explain that the sagebrush loss occurred primarily on BLM-managed lands…(approximately 1.1 million acres total; 951,000 acres in the Great Basin Region and 135,000 acres in the Rocky Mountain Region).
“Wildfire accounted for approximately 72% of the sagebrush loss in both regions and represents the largest driver of sagebrush loss in the Great Basin Region,” the Executive Summary continues. The particulars that address wildfire impacts – 87% of the loss of sagebrush in the Great Basin was from wildfire and about 34% of the loss in the in the Rocky Mountain Region was linked to this cause.
During the virtual December 15th meeting of the Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council, Nada Wolff Culver, Deputy Director, Policy and Programs for BLM and Matt Preston, also with the Washington, D.C. BLM office offered a brief glimpse of what to expect in going forward. At this point, whatever public meetings at the front-end of the process are likely to be virtual.
Those interested in trying to influence the process need to provide their input during the 75-day scoping process as well as staying connected and informed of the additional opportunities that arise.
This information portal on the BLM’s website https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2016719/510 needs to be included in your frequently visited locations.
Nevada Farm Bureau has also made the request for an information workshop to be offered by the Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Technical Team, along with others knowledgeable of the information presented in “The Greater Sage-Grouse Plan Implementation – Range wide Monitoring Report for 2015-2020.”
The best strategy for moving forward needs to include a clear understanding of what the available information has to say.
Planning for Sage Grouse conservation is not something new – official working groups were first appointed by Governor Kenny Guinn in August of 2000. Past lessons have taught that those who make a point of getting involved will likely have to endure some frustrations, but in the end will have a much greater chance of making a difference than those who don’t.
As the calendar turns to 2022 – it’s time to plan for Sage Grouse conservation…again.
By Doug Busselman | NFB, Executive Vice President
Provide input during the 75-day scoping process and stay
connected and informed of the additional opportunities that arise.This information portal on the BLM’s website:
https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2016719/510 needs to be included in your frequently visited locations.