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Separate quarters, common goals: Greater & Gunnison sage-grouse
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.
Gunnison sage-grouse are smaller than greater sage-grouse and have a distinctive linear pattern
on their tail feathers, along with much thicker plumage on the back of their heads. | Helen Richardson
via Montrose Daily Press & Colorado Public Radio
While their habitats do not overlap, the birds share a year-round reliance on sagebrush and related
native plants for food and cover. | USFWS/Jennifer Strickland
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.