The Bureau of Land Management on Friday released a final proposed blueprint to save the greater sage grouse that would increase protections for the vulnerable Western bird and its dwindling sagebrush habitat, but maintains certain exemptions to allow for energy development and other activities.
The plan, detailed in a final environmental impact statement released Friday, includes substantial revisions from the draft plan unveiled in March, including adjusting the boundaries of “priority habitat management areas” where the strongest regulatory measures are applied.
Sage grouse populations have largely been in decline for most of the past decade. That’s largely due to the fact that the survival of the bird depends on the wide-open sagebrush plains that are increasingly threatened by climate change, wildfires and the spread of invasive plants.
This can also put the bird — known for its memorable mating dances — in conflict with both oil and gas and renewable energy development, as those projects encroach on its habitat.
