The Fallon All Breeds Bull Sale that was held in February is in the books. We have just finished wrapping up everything from the sale and would like to give thanks to all of our consignors, buyers, sponsors, and volunteers once again for your support this year. We look forward to seeing everyone again in 2023!
As we enter into spring, I hope everyone has some shiny new calves and lots of rain. While the Nevada Legislature is not in session this year, there is still plenty going on in the livestock industry, particularly on the public lands front. The bird is once again the word, sage grouse that is. Last November, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) released their Notice of Intent to amend the 2015 and 2019 Sage Grouse Management Plans.
If we go back through the annuls of history, the 2015 Sage Grouse Management Plans were rife with issues harmful to the livestock industry. With components such as 7-inch stubble height requirements, incoherent lek buffers, and sage brush focal areas, livestock appeared to be public enemy number one.
Fast forward to 2019, the Trump Administration/BLM was able to rework the Sage Grouse Management Plans to reflect on the ground realities and add in some much-needed flexibility for livestock producers. Shortly thereafter, U.S. District Court Judge, Lynn Winmill ruled in favor of environmental groups by deeming that the BLM failed to fully analyze how sage grouse would be harmed under the 2019 land use plans.
BLM’s new planning effort comes on the heels of the Judge Winmill’s decision and seeks to “examine new scientific information, including the effects of stressors like climate change, on Greater Sage-Grouse, to assess what management actions may best support habitat conservation and restoration on public lands to benefit sage-grouse, as well as the people who rely on sagebrush lands to support their livelihoods and traditions.”
The comment period for the Bureau of Land Management’s Sage Grouse Scoping Period closed in February. NCA submitted comments urging that the BLM consider the following in preparation of new sage grouse plans;
- The alignment of any potential federal plan with the 2019 Nevada Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Plan
- Removal of Sagebrush Focal Areas
- The reliance on the best available science regarding habitat objectives
- Addressing wildfire and the use of livestock grazing as a tool to prevent wildfires
- The need to address predation on nesting sites
- The need for cooperative monitoring agreements between BLM and permittees
- Compliance with the Wild Free Roaming Horse and Burro Act
NCA will continue to closely monitor and engage as the process continues to work itself out. In the meantime, I’m happy to report that the Fiscal Year 2022 Omnibus package recently passed by Congress included a critical provision prohibiting funds from being used to enact a federal listing of the Greater Sage-Grouse under the Endangered Species Act. This key provision should empower voluntary, locally led conservation efforts from the ground up and not the top down.
by Martin Paris | NCA Executive Director | O: 775-738-9214
