Nevada Farm Bureau
Time To Plan For Sage Grouse Conservation … Again By Doug Busselman | NFB, Executive Vice President As the federal plans were being amended into land use management plans, a Nevadadeveloped Sage Grouse Management plan had been completed by the Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council. The Nevada Sagebrush Ecosystem Council is a group of Governorappointed representatives from different stakeholders and representatives of several state and federal government agencies. The authority for this nine-member body, plus nonvoting This process is intended to produce a series of agency representatives, is covered in Nevada Environmental Impact Statements (EIS) which Revised Statutes (NRS) 232.162. will cover the potential of changes to land use management plans in California, Colorado, When the Nevada 2014 Greater Sage Grouse Idaho, Montana, Nevada, North Dakota, Conservation Plan was being developed it was Oregon, South Dakota, Utah and Wyoming. intended that this state-based plan would be In 2015 this same process produced the land the conservation plan for managing sagebrush use amendments for these same states. Federal habitat in the state. At the very least it was agency higher-ups plugged in their ideas hoped that the state plan would be included into the land use plans that they determined what would be best for Greater Sage Grouse conservation. In November, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) -- from Washington, D.C. -- issued a Federal Register Notice that they were going to update their Greater Sage Grouse management plans. This announcement started the clock ticking on a 75-day scoping process. During this time the agency is soliciting public comments, on what should go into the planning initiative.
as an alternative to be evaluated when BLM went through their land use planning process. Ultimately those involved in the process higher up the ladder, decided the best approach would be for BLM to keep their plans and amend them into the many land use management plans across Sage Grouse states. This 2015 Greater Sage Grouse Plan was updated with a set of changes brought forward by the Trump Administration in 2019. The amended 2019 version was challenged and over-turned by a judge in Wyoming, taking things back to the 2015 version, which is where things stand now. BLM’s announced intention for this round of planning is to consider how a new version might amend the 2015 plans. The Federal
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20 JANUARY 2022
The Progressive Rancher
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