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

6840 (930) P
February 10, 2012
EMS TRANSMISSION: 02/15/2012
Instruction Memorandum No. WY-2012-019
Expires: 9/30/2013
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 Bureau of Land
Management Wyoming (BLM WY) Field Offices (FOs) regarding management consideration of
Greater Sage-Grouse habitats for proposed activities until resource management planning
updates are completed. This guidance is in place of direction provided in Washington Office
(WO) IM No. 2012-043 concerning interim management policies and procedures for Greater
Sage-Grouse. Specifically, this IM addresses all BLM WY programs and provides all necessary
interim program direction consistent with WO IM No. 2012-043. Where planning efforts to
update and incorporate this guidance are not yet completed, the BLM WY State Office will
conduct periodic review of the implementation of measures and directives contained in this IM to
determine their applicability and effectiveness and make changes as necessary. This IM replaces
IM No. WY-2010-012 and IM No.WY-2010-013 (USDI BLM 2010a, USDI BLM 2010b). This
IM also acknowledges that Wyoming BLM will be meeting the intent of WO IM-No. 2012-044,
BLM National Greater Sage Grouse Land Use Planning Strategy.
Policy/Action: It is the policy of BLM WY to manage Greater Sage-Grouse seasonal habitats
and maintain connectivity in identified areas in support of the population management objectives
set by the State of Wyoming. This guidance is consistent with guidelines and recommendations
United States Department of the Interior
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT
Wyoming State Office
P.O. Box 1828
Cheyenne, Wyoming 82009-1828
IN REPLY REFER TO:
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provided for in the Wyoming Governor’s Sage-Grouse Implementation Team’s Core Population
Area Strategy and the most recent Wyoming Governor’s Executive Order (EO) 2011-5. This IM
is also consistent with the BLM National Sage-grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy (USDI
BLM 2004a), WO policy guidance including:
• IM No. WO-2011-138 (Sage-Grouse Conservation Related to Wildland Fire and Fuels
Management);
• IM No.WO-2010-071 (Gunnison and Greater Sage-Grouse Management Considerations
for Energy Development);
• IM No.WO-2012-043 (Greater Sage-Grouse Interim Management Policies and
Procedures);
• National BLM Policy Manual 6840 which provides direction for the management of
BLM Sensitive Species; and
• IM NO. WO-2012-044, BLM National Greater Sage-Grouse Land Use Planning
Strategy.
Because Washington Office IM No. WO-2012-043 references the terms Preliminary Priority
Habitat (PPH) and Preliminary General Habitat (PGH), the following explanation of terms used
in Wyoming to describe these areas is necessary. BLM WY will refer to PPH in this IM as
“core” or “connectivity” areas because these areas currently correspond to the mapped
boundaries of the State of Wyoming’s Core Population Area Strategy and meet the instructed
intent of WO guidance. Connectivity areas are not the same as core areas in Wyoming, but they
are a high priority for management, as identified by the State (EO 2011-5; Figure 1).
Additionally, the BLM WY, Buffalo Field Office (BFO) has identified sage-grouse “Focus
Areas” for adaptive management direction during the Buffalo resource management plan
revision process. A record of the management direction for these existing “focus areas” can be
reviewed by visiting the following BLM WY BFO web-site:
(http://www.blm.gov/wy/st/en/field_offices/Buffalo/wildlife/sagegrouse.html).
Finally, PGH in Wyoming corresponds to all Greater Sage-Grouse habitats not located within
identified core, connectivity or focus areas.
This guidance is structured to utilize an adaptive management approach that effectively adopt the
goals and objectives of the State’s Sage-Grouse Core Protection Area Strategy regarding habitat
conservation, restoration, and reclamation practices for Sage-Grouse habitats in Wyoming.
The IM policy guidance will be implemented in conjunction with existing program-specific
policies and Best Management Practices (BMPs) such as, but not limited to, those contained in
the fluid minerals program and the lands and realty program. It is the goal of BLM WY to
continue to work toward the long-term conservation of Greater Sage-Grouse habitats in
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Wyoming through coordination with partners, including the Governor’s Office of the State of
Wyoming, the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD)and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife
Service (FWS), and to also utilize input from the Resource Advisory Council (RAC), Local
Sage-Grouse Working Groups (LWGs), BLM cooperators and stakeholders through a process
that includes the immediate implementation of the following measures and statements.