Revised sage grouse plan up for review

— September 13, 2013

(Press release) The Big Horn Basin Sage Grouse Working Group will hold a public meeting in Cody from 6-8 p.m. Sept. 23 at Big Horn Federal Bank (1701 Stampede Ave) to solicit comments for their Sage Grouse Conservation Plan five-year addendum.

The original plan, Conservation Plan for Sage-grouse in the Big Horn Basin, Wyoming and the new addendum can be found here.

Public input on the addendum will be accepted Sept. 16 through Oct. 18. Comments will be taken at the public meeting, can be sent to local working group member Tom Easterly at tom.easterly@wyo.gov, or mailed to: 1261 US Highway 14, Greybull, WY 82426. Comments must be received no later than 5 p.m. Oct. 18.

The Big Horn Basin Sage Grouse working group is one of eight local working groups statewide. Each is composed of citizens representing various stakeholder groups interested in sage-grouse conservation and associated land management issues. The group has already developed and initiated a conservation plan to benefit sage-grouse and, when feasible, other species that use sagebrush habitats.

The Wyoming Game and Fish Department asked each local working group to update their sage grouse plans to reflect new policies and information that have become available since the plans were originally completed in 2007. Chief among these are the Governor’s Sage-Grouse Executive Order(s), the BLM’s Instructional Memorandum, and the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service’s 2010 threatened and endangered species listing decision in 2010.   In addition, the plan update details sage grouse conservation practices that the group has prioritized for funding via the legislature’s biennial sage grouse conservation fund appropriation to each local working group.