Tell the Bureau of Land Management to protect the greater sage grouse

DOI-BLM-WO-2300-2022-0001-RMP-EIS

According to some estimates, historical numbers of greater sage grouse in the United States could have been as high as 16 million. By 2000, that number had fallen to between 100,000 and 500,000.

The loss of these birds' habitat is central in their decline. In Utah, Montana and Wyoming alone, development and climate change have destroyed as much as 90% of these birds' habitat. Decades of loosening protections have contributed to this loss of habitat and left the grouse vulnerable.

Sage grouse need the sage shrublands for shelter, to hide from predators, to raise their young, and to attract mates in their strange, iconic dances. Without that habitat, the grouse are struggling to survive. For that reason, I urge you to update the Bureau of Land Management's management plans for the greater sage grouse to protect this iconic species.