CHEYENNE – The federal Bureau of Land Management announced recently a selection of new policies aimed at maintaining “healthy sagebrush habitat in the west, while continuing to allow multiple use and local economic development.”
These changes come on the heels of results of Wyoming Game and Fish Department studies, which indicate a potential, state-wide decline in the numbers of sage grouse – which depend on the sagebrush habitat – coming in 2018.
WGFD predicts sage grouse populations will shrink in the coming year based on an analysis of more than 2,000 wings provided by hunters in 2017.
“Data collected shows that in 2017, there were 1.2 chicks per hen, compared to 0.9 chicks per hen in 2016,” a press release states. “This number mirrors the 10-year average from 2007-2016. Typically, biologists would like to see numbers of 1.4-1.6 chicks per hen to maintain population stability.”

WGFD personnel and other partners also visit over 1,600 leks, or breeding grounds, to count the numbers of sage grouse visiting on each lek to determine bird population.
This data, perhaps, helped prompt BLM’s updated policies regarding the sage grouse and its habitat.
“The updated policies are in response to concerns raised by the states, local partners and our own field staff,” Brian Steed, BLM’s deputy director for Programs and Policy, said. “They were developed from the ground up with the goal of improving sagebrush habitat while permitting measured economic and recreational activity.”
The Instruction Memoranda, or IMs, published last week provide guidance for the BLM’s on-the-ground management actions in oil and gas leasing and development, livestock grazing leasing and permitting, and evaluating the health of sagebrush habitat, according to a press release issued Friday. Three of the IMs revise memos issued in 2016; two others supersede guidance issued in 2016. The sixth IM is new and directs field staff in using the habitat objective table in sage grouse management plans to ensure utilization of the best available science to support management decisions.
“Policy for oil and gas actions in areas with designated sage-grouse habitat makes it clear that while plans prioritize leasing and development outside of habitat management areas, they still allow leasing with appropriate protective measures on all minerals estate previously designated as ‘open’,” the release continues. This means BLM does not need to lease and develop entirely outside of habitat management areas before it can consider leasing and development within sage-grouse habitat management areas.
IMs were developed in consultation with governors’ offices in 11 western states and build on the review of greater sage grouse plans and policies directed by Secretary of the Interior Ryan Zinke in June 2017.
“(Sage grouse management) has been a huge topic around the west from the last decade, and Wyoming has really been a leader,” Tom Christiansen, WGFD sage grouse program coordinator told the Telegram. He added the governor meets quarterly with sage grouse implementation teams, and these individuals have advised Wyoming leaders since 2007 on executive orders to maintain a healthy sage grouse population in the state.
For more information, the full text of each BLM IM is available online at https://www.blm.gov/policy/instruction-memorandum.