Sage-grouse

Programs

The Greater sage-grouse inhabits some 150 million acres of sagebrush-steppe lands in western North America and may be best known for the distinctive mating ritual it performs on flat, open patches of the sagebrush sea. More densely vegetated parts of the ecosystem are crucial for later portions of the birds' lifecycle, carried on alongside more than 350 other species that inhabit the biome. These same lands also sustain Western rural economies built on outdoor recreation, ranching, farming, energy development and small businesses. For decades, federal, state and private land managers have worked to conserve and restore the sagebrush ecosystem, with federal agencies managing habitat on the lands whose surface they administer and states managing and monitoring wildlife populations.

NOTE: Materials available from these pages are contributed by BLM staff. Expect the collection to continue growing in time to reflect the most current information available.

HABITAT ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK (HAF)

The Federal Land Policy Management Act of 1976, as amended, 43 U.S.C. 1701, et sec. (FLPMA) declares that the nation’s public lands are to be managed in a manner that will “…provide food and habitat for fish and wildlife…” and identifies “fish and wildlife development and utilization” as one of the public lands’ “principal or major uses.”

Greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) have been petitioned 7 times for listing under the Endangered Species Act throughout all or portions of its range. In 2010 the Secretary of the Interior requested the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service identify what factors need to be addressed to preclude the need to list the greater sage-grouse. The resulting document – the Conservation Objectives Team Report was a collaborative effort between U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and all state wildlife management agencies within the species range, with the exception of South Dakota. Our understanding of threats to greater sage-grouse has continued to expand, but the COT Report remains a valuable resource and is frequently cited by many parties when discussing threats to the species.

U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service conducted 3 separate listing reviews for the Greater sage-grouse; 2005, 2010, and 2015. The 2015 Greater Sage-Grouse listing decision provides useful information on the status of the species, as well as the commitments made by BLM to provide regulatory protection on BLM lands.

The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service recognizes the Bi-State Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of greater sage-grouse, a population that straddles the NV/CA border near Reno and is isolated from the rest of the specie’s range. Previous listing determinations resulted in a not-warranted decision, but the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service was ordered in April, 2023 to revisit that decision.

Photo courtesy of: U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service

The Gunnison sage-grouse (Centrocercus minimus) was listed as threatened by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in the 2014 Listing Decision. Restricted to the western portion of Colorado and the eastern portion of Utah, the BLM works cooperatively with Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources on implementation of the Gunnison sage-grouse recovery plan.

For a full listing of Greater sage-grouse recovery documents, visit the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service's Environmental Conservation Online System.

Sage-grouse Bibliography - there is so much information to be discovered regarding sage-grouse. Use the following bibliography to get you started down the right path for your investigations.

Greater Sage-grouse Bibliography

Do not be afraid to ask questions. Should you ever need any assistance, there are numerous biologists willing to help answer questions. Here are the BLM's Sage-Grouse Program Contacts.

Click here for general information on the BLM Sage-grouse Program

Sagebrush-Steppe Ecosystems - the following pages will guide biologists to scientific information housed in a variety of locations (ex. BLM Library, SharePoint sites, or other resources). Please contact the HQ231 Sage-Grouse Program Lead (Pat Deibert) for recommendations on improving the site or additional links.

Sagebrush

The sagebrush ecosystem encompasses more than 175 million acres across the western United States, and supports more than 350 species of plants, invertebrates, and vertebrates, including multiple BLM sensitive species. Sagebrush ecosystem integrity is negatively impacted from multiple threats, including wildfire, particularly as exacerbated by invasive annual grasses, climate change, human development and conifer expansion. Approximately 1.3 million acres of sagebrush habitats are lost or degraded annually from these and other factors.

The BLM manages the majority of sagebrush habitat and is collaborating with multiple partners to maintain the health of the entire ecosystem, ensuring wildlife and plant conservation, and supporting multiple economies based in this diverse system. Approximately half of the range of the greater sage-grouse (67 million of 150 million acres) is managed by the BLM. Intense interest in greater sage-grouse, including multiple reviews by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for potential listing under the Endangered Species Act, has prompted the BLM to ensure land use plans are consistent with conservation of this iconic species. Currently, the BLM is revising plan amendments to incorporate the most recent scientific information on this bird and associated sagebrush habitats, and in response to court direction. Additionally, the BLM is revising land use plans in CO and UT to ensure the conservation of Gunnison sage-grouse, a threatened species with limited distribution in those states.

Since wildfire is a major threat to sagebrush habitats, particularly in the Great Basin states, BLM grouse biologists coordinate closely with BLM fuels staff to identify opportunities for pro-active fire prevention, and sagebrush habitat restoration post-fire. This effort is captured through the Integrated Program of Work (VPN is required). Details on how IPOW is implemented through the budget process can be found in BIO 101 training, detailed in the policy and training tab.

Detailed information on the sagebrush ecosystem and threats challenging conservation can be found in the WAFWA Sagebrush Conservation Strategy, Part I, Challenges to Sagebrush Conservation. This 2021 document provides an overview and assessment of challenges facing land managers and landowners in conserving sagebrush ecosystems. The Sagebrush Conservation Design tool provides a map of the sagebrush ecosystem that identifies ecological integrity based on measures of human activity, invasive annual grasses, and conifer encroachment. This model can be used to help identify areas to focus conservation efforts at a landscape scale. Additional on the ground review will assist in accurately identifying what conservation efforts will be necessary depending on project objectives. The NRCS Working Lands for Wildlife has created a conservation framework for sagebrush focused on rangeland management and the interplay of public and private lands.

Weed Action Plan

Two key publications address invasive species management in sagebrush ecosystem. These documents were produced by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) but were drafted through interagency coordination. The Western Weed Action Plan is a multi-agency action plan to address invasive plant species in the western United States. A “gap” report – identifying where actions for managing invasive plants in sage-grouse habitats are needed (official title: Invasive Plant Management and Greater Sage-grouse Conservation) was published in 2018. This report identifies opportunities and challenges for all levels of participation in addressing invasive vegetative species.

Additional databases are helpful in identifying areas of pro-active conservation or restoration, including cheatgrass distribution, rangeland analyses combining satellite imagery with on the ground vegetation measurements. There are multiple other databases and spatial tools available for use depending on the specific objectives of your conservation effort.

Inventory and Monitoring

Measuring the impacts of our management activities is critical for adaptive management. Therefore, it is necessary to develop and implement ways to monitor and assess habitats. The following information will assist BLM biologists in identifying proper inventory and monitoring techniques.

The BLM’s Assessment, Inventory and Monitoring Strategy (AIM) provides standardized monitoring strategy for assessing natural resource condition and trend on BLM lands. This tool is for all BLM lands, including aquatic habitats, but due to the amount of sagebrush managed by BLM a majority of these efforts outside of Alaska occur in that ecosystem. AIM outlines standardized field measurements, sample designs, data management and stewardship, analysis frameworks for data use, and integration with remote sensing tools.

HAF The Sage-grouse Habitat Assessment Framework (HAF) is a multi-scale sage-grouse habitat assessment tool that establishes indicators to determine the status of sage-grouse habitats. Development of this assessment tool was closely coordinated with AIM to ensure the data required for HAF was consistent with that effort. In short, HAF focuses on sage-grouse habitats, but the data collected can be used in AIM assessments, reducing duplicative sampling efforts.

BLM compiled a Rangewide Monitoring report for Greater sage-grouse plan implementation (2015-2020 Monitoring Report). The report summarizes data collected through a monitoring framework identified in the 2015 land use plan amendments for greater sage-grouse. Two scales were examined – rangewide and land use plans. For the rangewide scale data were collated on sage-grouse habitat availability, condition and degradation, intensity of development in habitat management areas, and sage-grouse population size. At the land use plan scale data assembled reflects implementation of the land use plan habitat and disturbance objectives, measures of land health standards, and trend of greater sage-grouse populations in the planning area.

Sage-grouse Bibliography - there is so much information to be discovered regarding sage-grouse. Use the following bibliography to get you started down the right path for your investigations.

Greater Sage-grouse Bibliography

EMERGING ISSUES

It's Sage-grouse... things are emerging ALL the time!!!

The Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) has developed a series of white papers on key issues for sage-grouse including captive breeding, predator control, and hunting. Some of these are fairly dated but the positions of the state wildlife agencies have not changed. As a member of the WAFWA Sage and Columbian sharp-tailed grouse technical committee the BLM either assisted in drafting or reviewing these white papers.

They can be found at WAFWA Sagebrush Conservation Initiative Publications

Publications include:

USGA SG USGS annual summary publications provide abstracts and links to publications and data for their research on sage-grouse and sagebrush. Much of this research is funded and conducted in collaboration with BLM.

USGS annual summary publications provide abstracts and links to publications and data for their research on sage-grouse and sagebrush. Much of this research is funded and conducted in collaboration with BLM.

U.S. Geological Survey - Sagebrush Ecosystem Research Annual Report 2020

U.S. Geological Survey - Sagebrush Ecosystem Research Annual Report 2019

Additional information may also be found using the Advanced Search function at the top of the page.

SPP Content - WE NEED YOUR SAGE-GROUSE RESEARCH UPLOADED

The science within the SPP science relies on YOU, the field biologist. As professional managers of wildlife you will often develop or follow science-based protocols based on studies conducted in your area. These scientific reports are extremely beneficial to you and other biologists throughout the agency. To best assists fellow and future BLM biologists, it is imperative you upload science-based documents related to research conducted in your area.

To maximize the benefit of submissions, BLM staff are encouraged to submit scientific information that includes:

Research conducted on BLM Lands - this includes final reports from BLM staff or contracted entities.
Science syntheses and white papers
Examples of issue-based analysis for inclusion in NEPA
Scientifically informed best management practices
Bibliographies and annotated bibliographies
Links to key data sets
Links to key information portals (outside of the SPP)

When uploading content to the SPP, you will be asked to identify the most appropriate BLM program as this will route the uploaded content to the content manager for approval. Approval of content will be based on the Principles and Practices of Integrating Science Guidelines as described in IM 2017-030.

NOTE: To find uploaded content, simply use the Advanced Search Function at the top of the page and use specific key words to narrow down your search options.

Thumbs Down As great as it would be to have EVERYTHING uploaded, we also need to make sure the SPP does not get overloaded with information that may not be useful.

To increase functionality and effectiveness of the SPP, items NOT encouraged for submission include:

Non-science related items (opinion pieces, news stories)
BLM Policy – Code of Federal Regulations, Executive Orders, Secretary Orders, Manuals, Handbooks, Instruction Memoranda, Information Bulletins
Generic or other types of scientific information with limited application to BLM management
Scientific information that has only very narrow geographic implications that would be unlikely to be useful across the agency
Peer-reviewed scientific journal articles that are available at the BLM library

RESOURCES FOR THE WILDLIFE BIOLOGIST:

We understand that not every biologist knows where to find the Policy & Regs and Training they need to best execute their job. The following links will help find those resources specific to being a BLM "wildlife" biologist.

POLICY & REGULATIONS

The following links go directly to existing BLM pages. These are provided to the field biologists as a quick link for reference only. DO NOT upload any policy or regulations to the SPP.

BLM Wildlife Policy - All policy and regulations relevant to BLM

BLM Policy Place Homepage

BLM Manuals - most used by the Wildlife Program

MS-6500 Wildlife and Fisheries Management - Provides policy for fish and wildlife conservation in BLM. Defines and directs BLM to identify priority species and habitats in land use planning.
MS-6600 Fish, Wildlife, & Special Status Plant Resources Inventory & Monitoring
MS-6780 Habitat Management Plans
MS-6830 Animal Damage Control
MS-6840 Special Status Species Management

BLM Handbooks - useful for wildlife related issues from other program areas.

TRAINING Training Opportunities

The following links go directly to existing BLM pages or other outside resources. These are provided to the field biologists as a quick link for finding available training. DO NOT upload any training information to the SPP.

BIO 101 - This course provides new BLM biologists the basic information to enable them to function effectively within a Field Office setting. Module topics include overviews of the budget process, important wildlife laws, organizational structure, interactions with other disciplines, NEPA and planning as it relates to biologists’ roles, writing effective project proposals, habitat and species management, and managing partnerships. In-person training is available, however, enrollment is by nomination only. Please contact your State Wildlife Lead for more information.

Additional Wildlife Training through DOI Talent:

Measuring and Monitoring Plant Populations Training Class - Learn how to monitor rare plants efficiently, effectively, and ensure the monitoring is statistically valid, write monitoring objectives, create a pilot study, analyze data, and make monitoring recommendations.
Integrated Pest Management and Pesticide Applicator Class - Required for state and local noxious weed coordinators and BLM employees who will be handling or applying pesticides. (Resource: BLM Pesticide Applicator Study Guide)

Miscellaneous Training Opportunities:

Conservation Leaders for Tomorrow (sponsored by the Max McGraw Wildlife Foundation) - a professional development program designed for leaders within the natural resource sciences. CLfT focuses on hunting awareness and conservation education among academic programs and government agencies.