Advocates for the West joins call for large-scale sage-grouse protections
30th of May 2022
Advocates for the West recently joined birdwatchers and bird conservationists from across the country in advocating for the Bureau of Land Management to adopt large-scale protections for sage-grouse in the agency’s current sage-grouse land use planning process.
The May 20 letter to Director Tracy Stone-Manning calls for using Areas of Critical Environmental Concern designations, as allowed by the Federal Land Policy Management Act, to protect the most important habitat for the iconic bird.
In total, 66 organizations part of the Bird Conservation Alliance and led by American Bird Conservancy signed onto the letter, the full text from which can be found below.
| May 20, 2022 Tracy Stone-Manning Director, Bureau of Land Management 1849 C St. NW Washington, D.C. 20240 Dear Director Stone-Manning: As the Bureau of Land Management moves forward with land use plan amendments to conserve the Greater sage-grouse, we write to express our support for the designation of the range wide Sagebrush Sea Reserve Areas of Critical Environmental Concern (ACEC) network nominated by 19 conservation organizations on February 8, 2020 and which would protect the most important habitat for this iconic bird and the hundreds of other species reliant on healthy sagebrush ecosystems. We represent birdwatchers and bird conservationists from across the country. Birdwatching is one of the most popular recreational activities in the United States with 81 million Americans (about one in three adults) participating in 2008. It is also one of the fastest growing outdoor activities in the United States with a projected growth rate between 2008 and 2030 of 32 percent. Birdwatchers travel extensively to see birds and in doing so contribute to local economies and job creation. Expenditures related to wildlife-viewing in the United States is calculated at $76 billion, the majority of which is attributed to bird-watching. Protecting the Sagebrush Sea matters not only for sage-grouse, but also for other birds native to the region. These include migratory and resident birds such as Sagebrush Sparrow, Brewer’s Sparrow, Sage Thrasher, Gray Flycatcher, Golden Eagles and Ferruginous Hawk. The Pocket Guide to Sagebrush Birds lists many more. The need for a Sagebrush Sea Reserve ACEC network could not be more pressing. Greater sage-grouse populations have declined by 80% range-wide since 1965, and by 40% since 2002. In 2015, in an effort to halt these declines, the Bureau amended land use plans to conserve tens of millions of acres of land as Greater sage-grouse Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMAs). But these measures have not been enough. The five-year monitoring report on the efficacy of the 2015 amendments found 1.9 million acres of sagebrush in PHMAs were lost between 2012 and 2018 and that hard and soft population triggers, meant to alert land managers to population declines, were tripped forty-two times since 2015. We applaud the Bureau for revisiting its 2015 land use plan amendments and recognizing the accelerating threats to sage-grouse and their habitat posed by climate change. This is the time to put in place forward-looking, durable, and effective protections, and the Sagebrush Sea Reserve ACEC network would do just that. Building on past conservation efforts to increase protections against habitat loss and adverse effects of climate change, the ACEC network would be instrumental in advancing sage grouse conservation. We therefore urge the Bureau to designate a Sagebrush Sea Reserve ACEC network as part of its ongoing land use planning process. Sincerely, Advocates for the West American Bird Conservancy Arkansas Valley Audubon Society Audubon Society of Forsyth County – Winston-Salem, NC Bexar Audubon Society Biodiversity First! Bird Conservation Network Birdfriendlyyards.net Blue Ridge Audubon Chapter Bucks County Audubon Society Buffalo Field Campaign Cape Henry Audubon Society Center for Biological Diversity Chicago Bird Collision Monitors Coastal Plains Institute Compassion for All Living Beings Conneaut Hawk Watch Conservation CATalyst Eastern Long Island Audubon Society Ecology Center of Southern California Endangered Habitats League Environmental Protection Information Center- EPIC EVERGREEN AUDUBON Forest Web Fort Berthold Protectors of Water and Earth Rights Friends of Bryan Park Friends of Nevada Wilderness Friends of the Inyo FRIENDS OF THE SAN PEDRO RIVER INC Genesee Valley Audubon Society Houston Audubon Humane Action Pittsburgh Illinois Ornithological Society Kauai Albatross Network Kettle Range Conservation Group Lane County Audubon Society Linnaean Society of New York Maryland Ornithological Society Maryland Sierra Club Natural Places committee Mid-Michigan Stewardship Initiative Missouri River Bird Observatory New Mexico Audubon Council Northwest Arkansas Audubon society Pasadena Audubon Society Peoria Audubon Society Presque Isle Audubon Society Prince George’s County Audubon Society Raptors Are The Solution Rockbridge Bird Club Sacramento Audubon Society Safe Skies Maryland Salem Audubon Society San Bernardino Valley Audubon Society San Luis Valley Ecosystem Council Save Our Seabirds, Inc. Saving Birds Thru Habitat Sierra Foothills Audubon Society Soda Mountain Wilderness Council Space Coast Audubon Society St. Louis Audubon Society Tennessee Ornithological Society Umpqua Watersheds Wasatch Audubon Washington Crossing Audubon Society Western Nebraska Resources Council Whidbey Environmental Action Network |
