** Process to reevaluate sage grouse protections begins today
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Monday, November 22, 2021
Sage grouse engage in elaborate annual mating rituals. Bob Wick/BLM, Flickr ([link removed])

The Biden administration has kicked off a process ([link removed]) to reevaluate habitat protections for the greater sage grouse in response to a steady, decades-long decline in the bird's population, which is commonly seen as an indicator of the sagebrush ecosystem's overall health.

Today marks the beginning of a 75-day public comment period ([link removed]) for the evaluation, which could amend land management plans for 67 million acres across 10 Western states. The Bureau of Land Management announced its plan to reconsider protections for the bird earlier this fall ([link removed]) .

Millions of sage grouse once lived across the West, but the bird's numbers have dropped 65% since 1986 and 37% since 2002, according to the U.S. Geological Survey ([link removed]) . The Obama administration increased protections for sage grouse in 2015, but the Trump administration scaled them back, opening almost 10 million acres ([link removed]) of protected habitat to oil and gas drilling and cattle grazing. The bird is also threatened by climate change, persistent drought, wildfires, and the spread of invasive plant species.

Bureau of Land Management Deputy Director Nada Culver said ([link removed]) “everything’s on the table” ([link removed]) as the agency launches its evaluation of sage grouse habitat. Biologists say ([link removed]) wide buffers from drilling and other activities are needed to protect sage grouse breeding areas. The review will also look at ([link removed]) environmental stressors affecting the bird's populations, like climate
change.

“From changes to the buffers, to how we manage energy development, to how we manage every other activity ... we are evaluating it and we are looking for input on what are the most important things to look at,” Culver said ([link removed]) .


** Behind the scenes of our new series
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The Center for Western Priorities launched a new multimedia series last week ([link removed]) telling the stories of people around the U.S. working to protect important natural landscapes that contribute to the goal of protecting 30% of the country's land and waters by 2030. It's called the Road to 30: Postcards ([link removed]) and it features podcasts, interactive maps, blogs and films.

Go behind the scenes with CWP's Lauren Bogard and Kate Groetzinger in a new episode of The Landscape ([link removed]) . They share what it was like visiting five of the West's most iconic landscapes and meeting people who are doing the groundwork to ensure these places are maintained for future generations.
Quick hits


** California wildfires torched a fifth of Earth's giant Sequoia trees
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Associated Press ([link removed])


** Interior Secretary to ban derogatory word from federal lands
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | N ([link removed]) PR ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed])


** Opinion: President Biden should protect Avi Kwa Ame as a national monument
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Sierra Magazine ([link removed])


** Colorado releases more endangered ferrets into prairie dog holes
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Colorado Sun ([link removed])


** Bureau of Land Management kicks off sage grouse habitat evaluation
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Associated Press ([link removed]) | S ([link removed]) ierra Sun Times ([link removed]) ([link removed]) | E&E News ([link removed]) | Law 360 ([link removed]-)


** First competitive BLM solar lease sale turns out to be a success
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E ([link removed]) &E News ([link removed])


** USGS report finds low to no uranium in Grand Canyon waters
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KJZZ ([link removed])


** What's next as climate change threatens the Colorado River?
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Colorado Public Radio ([link removed])
Quote of the day

You can't have fixed numbers in a declining system... That's going to unduly impose pain on [parties] that are completely undeserving and never signed up for that.”
—Hydrologist Brad Udall on the Colorado River Compact, C ([link removed]) olorado Public Radio ([link removed])
Picture this


** @U ([link removed]) SFWSRefuges ([link removed])
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Pre-Thanksgiving trivia question: How many feathers does an adult turkey typically have on its body? Answer: See Turkey Fact No. 3 here – [link removed] ([link removed])

Great Bay National Wildlife Refuge New Hampshire By Matt Poole/
@USFWS ([link removed])

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