Save the Sage-Grouse: Urge the Bureau to strengthen protections for this iconic western bird!

The iconic greater sage-grouse is in trouble: Populations of these birds have declined by 80% in recent decades, and only a fraction of their habitat in the Sagebrush Sea remains intact.

The Bureau of Land Management maintains a conservation strategy for the greater sage-grouse as a blueprint for managing and conserving these birds across the west. Right now, eight states are considering changes to their plans.

But the Bureau’s approach doesn’t go far enough – the proposed plan won’t curb long-time population declines fast enough to give the sage-grouse a fighting chance.

The comment period is open: Send a comment urging the Bureau to strengthen protections to save future generations of sage-grouse!

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Defenders of Wildlife

Dear Bureau of Land Management:

Thank you for providing the opportunity to comment on the proposed changes to the Greater sage-grouse plans for eight western states. I urge you to adopt plan amendments that provide strong protections for the sage-grouse’s habitat and reject the recent 2025 proposed changes to the plans. The final plan amendments should institute a consistent management approach across the sage-grouse’s range that aggressively protects the last remaining intact habitat and limits disturbance. Unless strong conservation measures are implemented across the interior west, the species will continue on its path toward extinction.

The preferred alternative (#5) is already inadequate to address long-term sage-grouse declines. The changes proposed in September 2025, would roll back critical safeguards protecting the species and their mating grounds from development, including replacing the existing range-wide monitoring and management system with a fragmented, state-based approach. These revisions further weaken protections and fall far short of what is necessary to reverse sage-grouse population declines.

The Sagebrush Sea – the sagebrush dominated ecosystems that blanket the interior west – is imperiled and at a tipping point. It is the home to the greater sage-grouse and hundreds of other at-risk species including the pygmy rabbit that is currently under review for listing under the Endangered Species Act. It is very important to me that this beautiful and wildlife-rich biome does not decline so much that we cannot recover it and conserve the rich tapestry of native plants and wildlife that live there.

Thank you for considering my comments.

Sincerely,
{user_data~First Name} {user_data~Last Name}

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