The US Department of the Interior's Greater Sage Grouse Review Team submitted a report on Aug. 7 that Interior Sec. Ryan Zinke ordered 2 months earlier about possible ways to complement state efforts to improve the bird's conservation on public lands while promoting economic development.
Zinke thanked all the Interior agencies along with their staffs and state partners who helped prepare the report. "I've directed Deputy Sec. David Bernhardt to begin implementation of the recommendations and to direct the US Bureau of Land Management, in coordination with the US Fish and Wildlife Service, the US Geological Survey, and other offices in the department, to immediately follow through on the short and long-term recommendations," he said.
In addition to representatives from BLM, the US Forest Service-for which BLM helps manage oil, gas, and mineral resources-FWS, and USGS, representatives from the 11 states with greater sage grouse habitat helped prepare the document.
"The DOI team and the sage grouse taskforce are committed to a balanced approach that provides both responsible economic development and long-term conservation of the greater sage grouse," its executive summary stated.
Most states are interested in retaining the 2015 greater sage grouse strategy-using policy and clarifications initially to align them more closely with state plans and programs-while continuing discussions about possible targeted plan amendments.
The federal agencies and states also are committed to continue working with partners to prioritize staff and funding so on-the-ground actions to conserve and restore the bird's habitat can be implemented, it added.
Recommended initial steps include identifying options to incorporate updated boundaries into habitat management areas (HMA), clarify mechanisms to modify waivers, exceptions, and modification in priority HMA, and modify or issue a new policy on fluid mineral leasing and development, including the prioritization policy.
The report also calls for issuing or modifying policies; providing training for using assessment and monitoring tools and the habitat management tools from the 2015 greater sage grouse plans; and increasing grazing management flexibility.
Other possible steps
It also recommended identifying options for being flexible while applying adaptive management decisions, investigating ways to streamline use authorizations with little impact on the greater sage grouse, and clarifying the appropriate use of compensatory mitigation while identifying ways to make federal and state plans more consistent.
The team also called for working with states to improve techniques and methods allowing them to set appropriate population objectives for the bird and investigate removal or modification of greater sage grouse focal areas in certain states.
The report even might be considered a model for the greater state and federal cooperation Zinke and other Trump administration officials have embraced as a goal.
