Separate quarters, common goals

The BLM has completed an environmental impact statement (EIS) with proposed amendments to 11 resource management plans (RMPs) that guide management of habitat for the Gunnison sage-grouse, Centrocercus minimus, which was listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act in 2014. 

Gunnison sage-grouse are genetically distinct from greater sage-grouse, Centrocercus urophasianus, and the two species’ habitats do not overlap. Because the Gunnison grouse is ESA-listed, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service has primary responsibility for designating habitat and establishing the management actions to achieve conservation and recovery. 

The plan amendments related to Gunnison sage-grouse conservation are separate from ongoing planning for managing greater sage-grouse habitat on BLM-managed public lands. We are currently reviewing comments received on draft environmental analysis of options for amending 77 RMPs covering nearly 67 million acres of greater sage-grouse habitat in 10 states, and expect to publish a final EIS with proposed amendments by the end of 2024. 

Two Centrocercus urophasianus populations are not included in the ongoing planning:  

• Habitat for greater sage-grouse in Washington state includes relatively little BLM-managed land, so management actions in our plans have little if any influence on conservation there.
   
• The Bi-state greater sage-grouse population in portions of eight counties along the central California-Nevada border is recognized as biologically distinct from the one whose habitat includes BLM-managed lands along the northeastern portion of that border, which are part of the ongoing planning.