Trump Administrations Sage-Grouse Conservation Plans Threaten Conservation of the Species

WASHINGTON (December 6, 2018) - The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) has posted six Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendments and Final Environmental Impact Statements today that downgrade protections for greater sage-grouse and other wildlife on tens of millions of acres of BLM land in seven western states. These notices initiate 30-day protest periods on each of the six proposed final plan amendments.

Mark Salvo, Vice President of Landscape Conservation for Defenders of Wildlife, issued the following statement:

“This administration’s goal has been clear from the start: expand oil and gas drilling in sage-grouse habitat, regardless of the consequences to wildlife and wild lands. Meddling with the current plans will not only jeopardize grouse and their habitat, but also communities and economies that depend on healthy sagebrush landscapes. None of the proposed amendments would actually improve sage-grouse conservation, and most of them would undermine years of investment and progress in sage-grouse conservation at a time when the species is facing acute threats across its range.”