The Public Lands Council (PLC) and several environmental organizations have submitted comments to the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) regarding the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for Greater Sage-grouse Rangewide Planning released in November 2024.
The BLM is soliciting feedback on these amendments, introduced in late 2024, to better align sage grouse management with local conditions, state-specific needs and the most current science. The revisions aim to update habitat conservation strategies while maintaining multiple-use priorities across sagebrush rangelands in Idaho, Montana/Dakotas, Nevada/California, Utah and Wyoming.
PLC urges inclusion of report on grazing
In their comments, PLC commended the BLM’s efforts but urged the agency to fully incorporate the findings of the Idaho Grouse & Grazing Project, a decade-long collaborative study led by Courtney Conway at the University of Idaho and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS).
The study, published in June, evaluated the impact of spring cattle grazing on sage grouse survival and reproduction across five Idaho study sites, encompassing 21 BLM grazing pastures. Over the course of 10 years, researchers captured more than 1,300 grouses, monitored 1,285 nests and assessed vegetation, insect diversity and grazing intensity. The results found no evidence that properly managed livestock grazing reduces sage grouse nest or brood survival. In many cases, hens in grazed pastures experienced equal or slightly higher brood success than those in rested areas.
“While the proposed amendment notes some ability to draw from future knowledge and resultant work, the Conway publication represents the most significant body of updated science to date,” wrote PLC Executive Director Kaitlynn Glover.
Glover called for more adaptive management and “robust causal factor analysis,” emphasizing that point-in-time thresholds fail to reflect the dynamic nature of rangeland health.
Glover concluded, “PLC appreciates BLM’s recognition that additional work was needed in order to conform with specific state needs, and urges BLM to continue this kind of effective collaboration with states.” Glover said PLC looks forward to continuing engagement on this issue.
Greens push for protection
In contrast, environmental groups such as the Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project urged the BLM to adopt stricter habitat protections and stronger grazing limits, warning that without clear safeguards, sage grouse populations could continue to decline.
“Instead of protecting already imperiled greater sage-grouse populations, the Trump administration plans would put the birds on a fast track to extinction,” said Scott Lake, Nevada staff attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “This is yet another example of Trump putting industry interests over science to gut wildlife protections and bulldoze public lands.” Their comments sharply criticized the agency’s decision to abandon the 2024 uniform adaptive management framework, which relied on the Targeted Annual Warning System (TAWS), a science-based monitoring tool designed to detect early population declines.
The groups said BLM’s shift toward inconsistent, state-driven approaches creates a patchwork of protections that undermine rangewide conservation. They warned that dropping TAWS in favor of state systems will make it impossible to track population trends and implement coordinated management across state lines.
The groups also objected to the removal of “PHMA with limited exceptions,” a designation in the 2024 plan that provided enhanced protection for critical sage grouse habitats facing development and climate pressures. Environmental advocates argued that eliminating this category—largely in response to state objections—undermines the plan’s conservation goals without providing any new scientific justification.
They further cautioned that BLM’s proposal to delete numerical grass height standards from the Idaho and Nevada/California plans could weaken habitat safeguards. Citing past U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service findings, the groups contend that maintaining adequate residual vegetation height remains crucial for providing nesting cover and concealing predators.
Wyoming’s framework concern
In Wyoming, a team of state and federal agencies, conservationists and industry leaders continues to collaborate through the Sage Grouse Implementation Team, which has worked since 2007 to balance wildlife conservation with agriculture and mining.
According to Wyoming News Now, Chairman Bob Budd noted that sage grouse are a vital part of Wyoming’s heritage and that the state has restored or enhanced hundreds of thousands of acres of sagebrush habitat. He emphasized that the team closely tracks land disturbances, which remain minor compared to restoration gains.
At a recent meeting, participants discussed aligning Wyoming’s management plan with new federal proposals. However, environmental groups warned that BLM’s proposed reliance on Wyoming’s adaptive management framework may weaken protection thresholds. They contend the state’s system relies on large population units that obscure local problems, longer timeframes before triggering action and steeper declines before intervention occurs. In contrast, they said, the TAWS model detects smaller, consistent population drops more rapidly, allowing earlier corrective action.
The BLM will review all comments before finalizing its revised management plans in 2026, marking the latest chapter in a decades-long effort to balance sage grouse conservation with multiple-use mandates on western public lands. — Charles Wallace, WLJ contributing editor
