HELENA, Mont. – Governor Greg Gianforte this week urged the Biden administration to leave Montana's sage grouse program untouched, highlighting its success in conserving sage grouse, its balance between land use and conservation, and its robust, effective engagement with stakeholders.
In public comment to officials at the U.S. Bureau of Land Management (BLM), Gov. Gianforte emphasized the success of Montana's sage grouse conservation program, writing, "The Montana Sage Grouse Habitat Program (Program), overseen by the Montana Sage Grouse Oversight Team (MSGOT) is the most effective conservation program within the Greater Sage-Grouse's range. The product of stakeholder collaboration and scientific study, the Program has been an unqualified success, both in terms of maintaining land use and conserving sage-grouse populations."
In November 2021, the BLM announced it intends to amend land use plans associated with the sage grouse. At the time, BLM Deputy Director Nada Culver said "everything's on the table." Changes to the land use plan will impact Montana's successful program.
If the BLM amends land use plans in Montana, it "threatens to destabilize the Program's balance between land use and conservation," the governor wrote. "Whether in the form of lost agricultural opportunity or lost infrastructure, destabilization of the Program comes at a cost to not only the species, but the Montana economy. After the last two years, Montana's communities need security and opportunity."
He added, "For BLM to change course now, before the plans have realized their maximum potential, is not only a poor resource decision, but will leave stakeholders feeling cheated and disincentivize their future participation."
"Montana's Program hits every marker and incorporates every tool the BLM identifies in the Notice. For this reason, I would ask that BLM leave its Montana [land use plans] untouched," the governor wrote.
Montana officials and stakeholders aren't the only ones who consider Montana's sage grouse conservation a success. In October 2021, an official from the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service said, "I wanted to take a minute and just say we continue to express our continued strong support for the Program and for the effective implementation of the Stewardship Act and of those Executive Orders because of the substantive, positive impact that's had on Montana Greater Sage-Grouse conservation."
Gov. Gianforte concluded, "I would ask that the BLM honor and respect the contributions that have been made to Montana's Program and leave Montana's LUPs untouched, so that, together, we can continue to conserve sage-grouse for future generations."
The governor's letter can be viewed in its entirety online at https://governor.mt.gov/_docs/20220207_Sage_Grouse--BW.pdf.
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