Center for Biological Diversity

Media Advisory, November 6, 2017

Contact: Michael Saul, (303) 915-8308, msaul@biologicaldiversity.org

BLM to Face Criticism at Cheyenne Hearing on Sage Grouse Conservation Plans

Trump Administration Aims to Weaken Protections for Imperiled Bird

CHEYENNE, Wyo.— Conservationists attending public hearings in Cheyenne this week will blast federal plans to weaken protections for the greater sage grouse. The Bureau of Land Management is holding a series of meetings across the west, including two in Wyoming, to get public input on the Trump administration’s review of protections for the imperiled bird.

Interior Secretary Ryan Zinke is expected to recommend reducing protections to allow more fossil fuel development, mining and livestock grazing in the imperiled bird’s habitat across 10 western states. Earlier this month, Zinke formally launched a federal review of conservation plans approved in 2015 by a blue-ribbon panel of sage-grouse experts.

“The meager sage grouse conservation plans were a compromise that included concessions to the fossil fuel industry,” said Michael Saul, a senior attorney at the Center for Biological Diversity. “These conservation plans fell short and sage grouse populations continue to decline. Public lands provide habitat that’s crucial to their recovery. But greater sage grouse extinction may well be part of Zinke’s legacy.”

BLM is holding public meetings in seven western states on the sage grouse conversation plans. Here are the Wyoming meeting details:

Cheyenne
Where: The Little America Hotel and Conference Center, 2800 W. Lincolnway, Cheyenne
When:  4 – 7 p.m. today

Pinedale
Where: BLM Pinedale Field Office, 1625 West Pine St., Pinedale
When: 4 – 7 p.m. Wednesday

People can submit public comments to the BLM by email or on their website. The last day to submit comments is Nov. 27. Go to http://bit.ly/GRSGplanning or email BLM_sagegrouseplanning@blm.gov

The Center for Biological Diversity is a national, nonprofit conservation organization with more than 1.5 million members and online activists dedicated to the protection of endangered species and wild places.

www.biologicaldiversity.org

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