The Bureau of Land Management (“BLM”) is currently in the process of reviewing and revising its management plans for greater sage-grouse throughout the species’ range.

While the timeline is subject to change, the BLM intends to issue a draft EIS to the public in July 2023 and finalize a record of decision by June 2024. The State of Utah (“State”), with coordination through the Public Lands Policy Coordinating Office (“PLPCO”), is working with the BLM as a cooperating agency and will continue being actively involved throughout the planning process. The full extent of the BLM’s proposed changes is currently unknown, but the BLM is considering whether revisions are necessary for all elements of its prior plan.

In light of the BLM’s ongoing planning process, the State is also engaging stakeholders to consider revisions to the State’s greater sage-grouse plan, which was adopted in 2019 and currently governs management throughout the State. Some potential issues for consideration include, but are certainly not limited to, mapping of sage grouse management areas, revisions to the current disturbance cap and measurements for guidance of the same, and revisions to the processes governing habitat rehabilitation projects.

As the planning process proceeds, the State intends to engage all sage grouse local working groups to consider and evaluate potential plan changes and how local conditions will affect those changes. The State has not set a timeline for revisions to the State greater sage-grouse plan but anticipates continuing these state-specific efforts concurrently with the BLM’s planning process.