State unveils new grouse rules as feds again ease protections
Wyoming adopts habitat mitigation rules as Trump’s BLM, thwarted by courts, issues second stab at greater sage grouse plan rewrite.
Sage Grouse
Montana sage grouse estimates jump 73% in 2020
Biologists in the state with 11% of greater sage grouse estimate the population at about 78,000 birds, up more than 33,000 from 2019.
Judge stalls Wyo’s repayment of $47M in oil lease revenue
Funds from overturned oil and gas lease sales have already been disbursed for school kids, elderly, disabled and those “below the poverty line,” Wyoming said.
Scientists: Reworked BLM plan still fails to protect sage grouse
Agency’s preferred alternatives don’t account for four-year population slide, wildfire risks or landscape-scale coordination as the BLM aligns federal conservation plans with states’, experts charge. Others back the federal plan.
Wing data indicates sage grouse population slide will continue
A preliminary count of hunter-supplied wings shows a low ratio of chicks to hens, a key population indicator.
