Protecting the Greater Sage-Grouse

The Interior Department’s Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued final plans today that balance conservation with economic development across 10 Western states. These Records of Decision will direct the management of more than 50 million acres of public lands that are home to the imperiled greater sage-grouse, as well as elk, mule deer, pronghorn, golden eagles, and hundreds of other species.

The U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Land Management issued final Records of Decision on Sept. 22 to implement historic plans that responsibly balance conservation with energy development on millions of acres of public lands across 10 Western states. This is the largest conservation effort ever undertaken by the Bureau of Land Management and the biggest land protection initiative of the Obama administration.

On May 28, the Interior Department's Bureau of Land Management (BLM) announced its single largest conservation effort at the landscape level ever—a proposed plan to protect habitat across 10 Western states for the greater sage-grouse.

A new report by ECONorthwest, an independent economics firm, shows that visitors who hike, camp, hunt, and relax on sagebrush lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management generate hundreds of millions of dollars for Western state economies.