The USDA intends by this fall to put in place a revised land management plan for the greater sage-grouse, once a candidate for protection under the Endangered Species Act. A 2015 Interior Department review concluded that a conservation partnership across the western U.S. had significantly reduced threats to the grouse across 90 percent of its breeding range.
Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue said the Forest Service had proposed changes to greater sage-grouse management in Colorado, Idaho, Nevada, and Wyoming that would share stewardship with the states and create uniformity in federal and state regulations. The proposed rules, open for comment for 60 days, “maintain the goal of preventing any net loss to critical sage-grouse habitat,” said the USDA, adding that the plan would offer more flexibility in habitat conservation and greater local control.
“The Forest Service continues to promote our multiple use mission while ensuring conservation of greater sage-grouse habitat,” said Perdue.
In the Rocky Mountain portion of the grouse’s range, threats include energy development, road building, and the conversion of sagebrush habitat to cropland and urban development. In the Great Basin, threats include wildfire, invasive plants, mining, and improper grazing.