WASHINGTON, D.C. (November 19, 2020) — The Bureau of Land Management’s final supplemental environmental impact statements, issued today, show the agency’s continued disdain for regional cooperation in recovering the greater sage-grouse — and further imperil the iconic bird’s future in the West. The National Wildlife Federation called on the incoming Biden Administration and its future Interior secretary nominee to commit to honoring the 2015 agreement between Western states and the federal government to provide protections for the bird while continuing to provide other uses of sagebrush country, such as grazing and responsible energy development. 

“People all over the West pulled together around sage grouse conservation and the current Administration has done nothing but attempt to unravel and attack that work, squandering four years of the ticking clock for sage-grouse,” said Tracy Stone-Manning, associate vice president for public lands at the National Wildlife Federation. “We are hopeful that the court will ultimately strike down the Bureau of Land Management’s attempts to weaken the plans and that we can work with the next administration to get to work on the ground before it’s too late for this bird.” 

The health of the greater sage-grouse has often been considered an indicator of the health of its habitat, the sage brush steppe, also home to animals such as mule deer and elk. You can learn more here about the National Wildlife Federation’s efforts to save this iconic Western bird.