Comments wanted on sage-grouse amendments

On June 19, the U.S. Forest Service announced its intent to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement to amend the sage-grouse Land and Resource Management Plan Amendments that originated in 2015. The BLM recently announced a similar effort underway as well. Among other things, the proposal includes the elimination of “sagebrush focal areas” as a class of priority habitat management areas, removal of restrictions on livestock-related water development, replacing grass-height requirements with a standardized “habitat assessment framework,” and greater emphasis on invasive plant management in sage-grouse habitat. The agency prefers that comments be submitted via mail or email to the following addresses: John Shivik, R4-Intermountain Region All Units, Sage-grouse Amendment Comment, USDA Forest Service Intermountain Region, Federal Building 324 25th St., Ogden, UT, 84401 or to the email address comments-intermtn-regional-office@fs.fed.us. — WLJ