BLM issues proposed final greater sage grouse plan EISs, amendments

Dec. 7, 2018
The US Bureau of Land Management proposed final environmental impact statements and amendments to greater sage grouse habitat management programs in seven western US states. “With today’s action, we have leaned forward to address the various states’ issues, while appropriately ensuring that we will continue to be focused on meaningfully addressing the threats to the greater sage grouse and making efforts to improve its habitat,” Deputy Interior Sec. David Bernardt said in Salt Lake City on Dec. 6.

The US Bureau of Land Management proposed final environmental impact statements and amendments to greater sage grouse habitat management programs in seven western US states.

“With today’s action, we have leaned forward to address the various states’ issues, while appropriately ensuring that we will continue to be focused on meaningfully addressing the threats to the greater sage grouse and making efforts to improve its habitat,” Deputy Interior Sec. David Bernardt said in Salt Lake City on Dec. 6.

The proposed plan amendments aim to better align BLM resource management plans with state plans for conserving sage grouse populations, strike a regulatory balance, and build greater trust among neighboring interests in Western communities, BLM said. Governors of each state issued statements applauding the process leading to the proposed changes.

The president of the Western Energy Alliance in Denver also welcomed BLM’s action. “The plan amendments are a big improvement on the 2015 plans,” Kathleen Sgamma told OGJ in an e-mail. “There was better coordination with the states, which enables more flexibility for actual conditions on the ground rather than the previous one-size-fits-all approach.”

She said the most substantial improvement was removal of the “net conservation benefit” requirement that was a concoction of former US President Barack Obama’s pen and not based on law. “We would have preferred that several other problems be solved in the rewrite, such as disturbance caps, but the flexibility to adapt to actual habitat conditions will enable adjustments at the project level as necessary,” Sgamma said.

Other groups criticized the proposed changes. “In announcing these changes, [US Interior Sec. Ryan K. Zinke] is breaking a compromise deal made just 3 years ago by Westerners of all stripes, who set aside their differences to conserve key sage grouse habitat and provide certainty for communities and industry around the region,” Center for Western Priorities Policy Director Jesse Prentice-Dunn said in Denver.

The proposed amendments and final EIS for Nevada and California also address issues remanded to the agency by a Mar. 31, 2017, order by the US District Court for Nevada, which determined that the agency violated the National Environmental Policy Act when it finalized the 2015 Nevada plan.

BLM also posted proposed management plan amendments and final EISs for five more states online:

Northwestern Colorado’s proposed changes refine the previous management plans adopted in 2015. Under the 1976 Federal Land Policy and Management Act (FLPMA), BLM is required to cooperatively with states on land-use plans and amendments, BLM’s Colorado State Office said.

Idaho’s proposed changes refine the previous management plans adopted in 2015, BLM’s Idaho State Office said.

Oregon’s proposed amendments focus on continuing to make public lands designated as research natural areas (RNA) available for livestock grazing, BLM’s Oregon State Office said. Seventeen permittees currently use parts of 13 RNAs in southeast Oregon, with an estimated annual direct economic impact of $30,000 to the ranches. The amendment process also offers an opportunity for the BLM to align its mitigation requirements under FLPMA with those established under Oregon law.

Utah’s proposed changes refine the previous management plans adopted in 2015, BLM’s Utah State Office said.

Wyoming’s proposed amendments would adopt the state’s Compensatory Mitigation Framework; clarify objectives for sage grouse habitat where livestock grazing is also authorized; increase flexibility to grant waivers, exceptions or modifications in energy leasing; and remove the Sagebrush Focal Area designation from more than 1.9 million acres of habitat. BLM said that the amendment process also offered an opportunity for it to align its mitigation requirements under FLPMA with those established under Wyoming law.

Contact Nick Snow at [email protected].