The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced on Oct. 5 that it is opening a public comment period to review sage-grouse management plans. The bureau said it will explore potential amendments to land-use plans to help improve conservation of the bird and to strengthen communication and collaboration between states and the federal government.
The announcement came after a finding by the U.S. District Court for the District of Nevada that the BLM’s designation of Sagebrush Focal Areas in its 2015 greater sage-grouse plan amendment for Nevada was illegal. The plans under review apply to 10 western states: California; Colorado; Idaho; Nevada; Oregon; Wyoming; North Dakota; South Dakota; Utah; and Montana.
In announcing the comment period, BLM Acting Director Mike Nedd said, “The BLM is committed to being a good neighbor and cooperating with its partners at all levels of government, including states, as well as tribal leaders, industry and conservation groups, ranchers, and other stakeholders throughout the amendment process.”
The court ruled in March 2017 that the BLM failed to adequately evaluate the designation of Sagebrush Focal Areas in its 2015 greater sage-grouse plan amendment for Nevada. In order to comply with the court’s order and to address issues raised by various interested parties, and to consider recommendations in an Aug. 4, 2017 report prepared by the Department of the Interior’s Greater Sage-Grouse Review Team in Response to Secretary Ryan Zinke’s Order 3353, the BLM intends to consider amending these plans.
The notice was published Oct. 11 in the Federal Register opening a 45-day comment period. The notice and directions for submitting comments are available online at http://tinyurl.com/Grouse-Comments. The BLM indicated it may also hold public meetings and will announce those dates and times through local media in each state.
The decision to review sage-grouse management plans was welcomed by western state lawmakers and by organizations representing farmers and ranchers who may be impacted by the rules.
Rep. Greg Walden (R-OR) applauded the reopening of the comment period in a written statement. “I am pleased that Secretary Zinke has reopened the comment period for sage-grouse plans in Oregon and across the West. Oregon’s ranchers and landowners have done great cooperative work to improve sage-grouse habitat, and this is a chance for their firsthand knowledge to be incorporated into the planning process. The BLM’s decision is a step in the right direction towards working with our rural communities in these planning processes, rather than just burdening them with rules from Washington, D.C. I am confident Secretary Zinke will use their input as he develops a better path forward for Oregon and the West.”
Wyoming is home to approximately 42 percent of the range-wide greater sage-grouse population and the announcement was welcomed by Gov. Matt Mead, who encouraged BLM to find ways to better align with the state plan as it looks to make changes. “Folks representing energy, agriculture, recreation and conservation all came together to help frame the state’s plan to ensure a strong habitat for sage-grouse in Wyoming,” Mead said. “There are positive changes that can be made to the federal plans, but we should be careful and thoughtful about how we do that.”
Mead’s office provided additional comments to WLJ, saying the state is working through a process of reviewing the detailed federal plans to identify all of the areas where the federal plans in Wyoming deviate from the governor’s executive order on sage-grouse management.
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has said that Wyoming’s plan is adequate to preserve the bird if it is applied across federal, state and private lands in Wyoming. When the federal government worked on its plans in Wyoming, they largely followed the state’s lead. However, the federal plans do not align with Wyoming’s plan in all respects and, in some areas, impose greater restrictions on ranchers and oil and gas operators than under the Wyoming plan. David Bush, communications director for Mead, said, “We must keep in mind that nothing we do should lead to a listing of the bird under the Endangered Species Act. We hope that the public will share what they have learned over the past few years since the federal plans were amended, and identify areas where the BLM can improve the plans.”
In Montana, the Montana Farm Bureau Federation (MFBF) weighed in with Liv Stavick, who follows sage-grouse issues for the MFBF, reminding people that comment period doesn’t necessarily mean the federal implementation plan will be changed. She noted, “We think the Montana sage-grouse plan has merit; however, there are different requirements for federal agencies that may not meet the needs of BLM land in Montana. Opening the comment period will give Montana federal land users the opportunity to tailor a plan that works best for the birds in Montana.”
Some of the requirements in the plans are hard to meet, especially a requirement of stubble height in nesting areas known as leks. Stavick explained that drastic changes aren’t needed, but revisions are necessary because the rules don’t work across the board. “One instance is stubble height of 7 inches during the nesting period. On much of Montana’s public land it is doubtful that grass will ever grow to 7 inches,” she said, adding, “The bottom line is that the State of Montana has been very pro-active about sage-grouse habitat and Montana Farm Bureau has been involved since the beginning.”
The Public Lands Council (PLC) and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) responded with a statement from PLC President Dave Eliason, saying, “During an initial review of the report, I was encouraged by several key priorities including the compatibility of proper grazing management and conservation. The report acknowledges the need for a more collaborative approach between grazing permittees and federal leadership, as well as a reexamination of the Habitat Objectives Table and its application—both key elements to successful conservation efforts for the greater sage-grouse. The report also reinforced the need to pursue outcome-based grazing demonstration projects and targeted grazing pilot projects, two critical tools for responsive management of ecosystems and fuel loads. The Public Lands Council and National Cattlemen’s Beef Association stand ready to collaborate with the Department of the Interior moving forward.”
Ethan Lane, executive director of PLC and NCBA Federal Lands, told WLJ the comment period is necessary to fix issues with the 2015 plan amendments. He noted that some of the sticking points of the plan are lack of flexibility and common-sense application of rules. He explained that the people writing the rules felt there was some flexibility, saying BLM told employees they had choices but employees were applying strict rules across the board.
Lane said the objectives are problematic in application, but good data has been gathered that will be important when the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service reviews the status of the species in 2020.
“The longer-term issue here is, we want to make sure there is enough flexibility that ranchers aren’t impacted by these regulations, but we also want to make sure that they’ve got good data to point to in order to avoid the problem of listing again a few years down the road,” Lane said.
The idea, Lane said, is to revise—not rewrite—the rules, a sentiment also expressed in a joint statement from National Farmers Union (NFU) and the U.S. Cattlemen’s Association (USCA), saying, “All invested stakeholders will be best served if work remains focused on improving current plans and putting practices in place on the ground in advance of the ultimate goal of ‘what’s good for the herd is good for the bird.’”
NFU and USCA also recommend additional training for BLM personnel, livestock producers and conservation groups to ensure consistent and effective implementation of the plans.
Lane said PLC and NCBA also favor additional training and have talked about implementing what they are calling an internship that would place BLM field personnel with a rancher for a week so they could see some of the challenges ranchers are facing on the ground.
As livestock producers and land managers consider submitting comments, Lane said personal examples of success are important. He cited generations of ranchers who say they have healthy sage-grouse populations that follow responsible grazing patterns.
“We’re not looking for a free pass here,” Lane said. “We can’t do the kind of conservation work that we need to do and that they need us to do to really preserve this species if we’re being hog-tied by regulations that weren’t well thought out.” — Rae Price, WLJ editor
