Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Management Policy on Wyoming BLM Administered Public Lands including the Federal Mineral Estate

United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
IN REPLY REFER TO: Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-1828
6500 (930) P
December 29, 2009
EMS TRANSMISSION: January 4, 2010
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2010- 012
Expires: 9/30/11
To: District Managers and Deputy State Directors
From: State Director
Subject: Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Management Policy on Wyoming Bureau of Land
Management (BLM) Administered Public Lands including the Federal Mineral
Estate
Program Area: All programs
Purpose: This Instruction Memorandum (IM) provides guidance to Wyoming Bureau of Land
Management (WY BLM) Field Offices on sage-grouse habitat management for proposed
activities and resource management planning. The guidance also provides consistency in
management practices for WY BLM Field Offices for the conservation of sage-grouse and their
habitats. The Wyoming State Office will conduct an annual review of the implementation
measures contained in this IM to determine the effectiveness of the guidance and make changes
as necessary. This IM replaces IM No. WY-2004-057 (USDI BLM 2004b).
Policy/Action: It is the policy of WY BLM to manage sage-grouse seasonal habitats and
maintain habitat connectivity to support population objectives set by the Wyoming Game and
Fish Department (WGFD). This guidance is consistent with guidelines provided in the
Governor’s Sage-Grouse Implementation Team’s Core Population Area strategy and the
Governor’s Executive Order (EO) (Order 2008-2). This policy is consistent with the BLM
National Sage-grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy (USDI BLM 2004a) and national policy
issued for the 2009 wildfire season that provided guidance for conservation of sage-grouse “Key
Habitats” (USDI BLM 2009a). WY BLM sage-grouse Key Habitat Areas correspond to the State
of Wyoming’s Core Population Areas (Core Areas).
The guidance is structured to utilize an adaptive management approach to habitat conservation,
restoration, and enhancement. The policy applies to all programs and activities occurring on
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public lands and Federal mineral estate in Wyoming, except for livestock grazing management
within the range management program, because recommendations and policy regarding grazing
patterns will be issued separately. In addition, the policy herein will not apply to
nondiscretionary activities managed under 43 CFR 3809 for locatable minerals and for
discretionary activities approved under 43 CFR 3400 including Coal Management, and 43 CFR
3500 including Non-energy Leasables (i.e., trona operations). This policy will be considered in
the case of authorizations for discretionary leasable solid minerals (other than coal and trona) and
mineral materials actions.
This guidance is to be implemented in conjunction with existing program-specific policies and
Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as, but not limited to, those contained in the Oil and
Gas Program and the Lands and Realty program.
It is the goal of WY BLM to work toward the conservation of sage-grouse habitats along with the
WGFD, input from the Local Sage-Grouse Working Groups (LWG), and other partners and
stakeholders through a process that includes the implementation of the following Policy
Statements