Efforts to Help Greater Sage-Grouse to be Restored by Biden Administration
The Bureau of Land Management will respond to recent court decisions with new effort to reinstate plans to help struggling sage grouse populations.
FORT COLLINS, Colo. – The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced today that it would begin an effort to restore previous plans to conserve Greater Sage-Grouse populations. In 2015, stakeholders from across the West reached an historic agreement to save the sage-grouse—an agreement that the last administration ignored and undermined.
“This is a step in the right direction for the future of the Greater Sage-Grouse,” said Brian Rutledge, director of the National Audubon Society’s Sagebrush Ecosystem Initiative. “A lot has happened since 2015 and we’ve lost important time to restore the health of sage-grouse and the sagebrush landscape.”
In March, the United State Geological Survey issued a groundbreaking report showing that sage-grouse populations have declined 80 percent since 1965, a more dramatic decline than previously thought. There are more than 350 different species of wildlife and plants as well as hunters, ranchers, and whole communities that depend on a healthy sagebrush steppe.
“New science shows alarming range-wide declines for the sage-grouse and its habitat, the sagebrush steppe,” said Rutledge. “These birds are a reliable indicator of how other wildlife and the greater ecosystem are doing. It’s clear that help is needed. Our state and federal leaders must work together and double-down on conservation of the sage-grouse and invest in restoration of the sagebrush landscape.”
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The National Audubon Society protects birds and the places they need, today and tomorrow. Audubon works throughout the Americas using science, advocacy, education, and on-the-ground conservation. State programs, nature centers, chapters, and partners give Audubon an unparalleled wingspan that reaches millions of people each year to inform, inspire, and unite diverse communities in conservation action. A nonprofit conservation organization since 1905, Audubon believes in a world in which people and wildlife thrive. Learn more at www.audubon.org and on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram @audubonsociety.
Media Contact: Matt Smelser, matt.smelser@audubon.org