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The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) are holding scoping meetings to provide an opportunity for interested parties to talk to staff and resource specialists to identify issues to address in environmental impact statements to evaluate greater sage-grouse conservation measures in land use plans in 10 Western states. Five scoping meetings will be held in Nevada and written comments will be accepted during a 60-day public comment period that ends Feb. 7, 2012.

The scoping meetings will follow an open house format; no formal presentations will be given so participants may arrive at any time during the meeting. The meetings will be held from 5:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at all Nevada locations except for the meeting in Ely, which will be held from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m.

• Tonopah, Jan. 9, Tonopah Convention Center, 301 Brougher Ave
• Ely, Jan. 10, BLM Office, 702 N. Industrial Way
• Elko, Jan. 11, Hilton Garden Inn, 3650 Idaho Street
• Winnemucca, Jan. 12, Winnemucca Inn, 741 W. Winnemucca Blvd
• Reno, Jan. 30, Hyatt Place, 1790 E. Plumb Lane

The BLM and the USFS have identified the following preliminary issues to address in its environmental analysis: greater sage-grouse habitat management, fluid minerals, coal mining, hard rock mining, mineral materials, rights-of-way, renewable energy development, wildfire, invasive species, grazing, off highway vehicle management and recreation.

Comments and requests to be added to the mailing list may be made to the BLM during the scoping meetings, by email: sagewest@blm.gov, or by mail: Western Region Project Manager, BLM Nevada State Office, 1340 Financial Blvd., Reno, NV 89502. Additional information is available at the BLM's greater sage-grouse website at: www.blm.gov/sagegrouse. Questions may be emailed to: sagequery@blm.gov.

Before including your address, phone number, e-mail address, or other personal identifying information in your comment, you should be aware that your entire comment — including your personal identifying information — may be made publicly available at any time. While you can ask us in your comment to withhold your personal identifying information from public review, we cannot guarantee that we will be able to do so.

In March 2010, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) ruled that listing the species for protection under the Endangered Species Act was "warranted but precluded." The FWS said that it had other, higher priority species it needed to address first, but that it would subsequently address the greater sage-grouse and determine if it needed to be listed at a later date.

In its finding, the FWS said the BLM and the USFS are not "fully implementing the regulatory mechanisms available" to ensure species conservation. The BLM and the USFS are addressing the FWS concerns through the planning process.