The National Greater Sage-grouse Planning Strategy: An Interagency Application of the Landscape Approach

Once seen in great numbers across the West, Greater Sage-Grouse (GRSG) have declined in vast numbers over the past century because of the loss of sagebrush habitats essential for their survival.  In April 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) determined that the GRSG warranted protection under the Endangered Species Act (ESA), but that listing the species was precluded by the need to address other, higher-priority species first. One reason for the FWS decision was an identified need for “improved regulatory mechanisms” to ensure species conservation. The principal regulatory mechanisms for Federal agencies like the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and US Forest Service (FS) are land use plan (LUP) decisions. In December 2011, the BLM and FS initiated a National GRSG Planning Strategy to amend/revise over 98 land use plans across 10 Western states. This planning effort is unparalleled for both the BLM and FS due to the widespread range of the GRSG across the west. Currently, GRSG occupy 165 million acres in the West. The BLM and FS manage approximately 28% of this habitat on public lands and are working with the FWS and 10 Western States to analyze land use plan decisions on public lands to ameliorate threats to the GRSG in an effort to avoid an ESA listing in 2015 by the FWS. This presentation will discuss the unprecedented landscape planning strategy that is being led by the BLM and lessons learned that may inform other applications of a landscape approach to natural resource management.