BLM Sage Grouse Guidance Draws Criticism from Lawmakers, Environmentalists, and Industry

On December 27, 2011, the US Bureau of Land Management ("BLM") issued guidance targeted at protecting the greater sage grouse habitat that has since drawn sharp criticism from state officials, industry, and environmental groups. These guidance documents contain temporary measures to manage the 47 million acres of sage grouse habitat under BLM control while the agency works to develop a comprehensive strategy for the habitat over the next three years. One memorandum outlines temporary guidance for permitting new projects and managing existing projects within the habitat. It addresses rights of way for roads, power lines, pipelines, and wind farms; leasable minerals such as coal, oil, and gas; and land transfers, among other things. A second memorandum provides guidance for land use planning. The new rules will impact activities within the sage grouse habitat in 10 western states: California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Oregon, South Dakota, Utah, and Wyoming. 

BLM focused its attention on preservation of greater sage grouse habitat after a 2010 determination by the US Fish and Wildlife Service to place the bird on a list of "candidate species", giving it heightened protection under the Endangered Species Act. 

The BLM memoranda have become targets of criticism from various stakeholder groups who worry that the temporary guidance simultaneously fails to adequately protect the grouse and negatively affects a range of other land uses such as renewable energy development, oil and gas drilling operations, and livestock grazing.  

BLM expects to finalize resource management plans to incorporate sage grouse conservation measures in 2014.