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Deadline to comment on Trump Administration rewrite of BLMs plans for sage grouse management
October 3, 2025 @ 9:30 pm - 9:59 pm
Friday, October 3rd, is the deadline to comment on Trump Administration’s rewrite of BLMs plans for greater sage grouse management. We assume the time-of-day is just before midnight EST.
URL to CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY PRESS RELEASE ON THIS –
A quote from their press release:
“Today’s document, which opens an opportunity for public comments, presents numerous substantial revisions that gut the plans, including giving states authority to decide when and where protections apply. Today’s draft plan applies to greater sage grouse habitat on Bureau of Land Management lands in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, California, Utah and Wyoming.”
Defenders of Wildlife’s pre-fab on-line comment letter on this : https://act.defenders.org/page/88404/action/1?supporter.appealCode=3WDE2500IXXXX&utm_medium=email&utm_source=engagingnetworks&utm_campaign=092225_GreaterSage-GrouseBLMA2D&utm_content=092225+Greater+Sage-Grouse+BLM+A2D&ea.url.id=4004418&forwarded=true
Quotes from the Federal Register on this proposal are below in italics.
Link to Federal Register:
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START OF BLM’s FEDERAL REGISTER QUOTES
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“The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is soliciting comments on significant changes to the Proposed Resource Management Plan Amendment (RMPA) for Greater Sage-grouse Rangewide Planning released in November 2024. The environmental consequences of the proposed changes have been analyzed as part of the RMPA/environmental impact statement (EIS) process. Following consideration of any comments on these changes, the BLM will issue Records of Decision (ROD) for the Approved RMPAs for Idaho, Montana/Dakotas, Nevada/California, Utah, and Wyoming.
DATES:
Written comments on the changes to the proposed plan amendment will be accepted until October 3, 2025.
ADDRESSES:
The document identifying significant changes, the Proposed RMPA/Final EIS, and all associated documents are available on the BLM ePlanning project website at: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2016719/510.
You may submit comments by any of the following methods:
e-planning: https://eplanning.blm.gov/eplanning-ui/project/2016719/510. The BLM strongly encourages members of the public to submit comments electronically if possible.
Mail: BLM Anchorage District Office, Attn: Stephanie Rice, 4700 BLM Rd, Anchorage, AK 99507.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION CONTACT:
Stephanie Rice, telephone: (907) 308-9464; email: srice@blm.gov. Individuals in the United States who are deaf, deafblind, hard of hearing, or have a speech disability may dial 711 (TTY, TDD, or TeleBraille) to access telecommunications relay services for contacting Ms. Rice. Individuals outside the United States should use the relay services offered within their country to make international calls to the point-of-contact in the United States.”
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END OF BLM’s FEDERAL REGISTER QUOTES
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PHAS COMMENTS –
We are not sure of the time-of-day the comments are due, but we are guessing before midnight EST on the 3rd. We will be writing in opposition to the proposed changes, likely joining a multi-group letter.
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NEPA CHANGES
They are making amendments to the EIS, that Biden’s Administration BLM wrote in 2024 and we think they believe there is some legal loophole that allows them to do this, without issuing a Supplemental EIS and a post SEIS comment period. The Biden administration only issued Records of Decisons (RODs) on their NEPA docs for Oregon and Colorado and did not issue RODs for the other states. It seems the Trump BLM might be amending or using the alternatives from 2024 docs, without new NEPA docs and then issuing RODs. We don’t fully understand this process yet.
Please note that the Trump administration changed the CEQ rules (NEPA enactment rules) in ‘spring 2025 and that has severely impacted the EIS process that will be used going forward. The EIS process going forward will be much different than we are used to from the past 50 years.
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What the Changes Entail
Adaptive Management Language: The updates aim to better align adaptive management frameworks with state-level policies, giving more oversight powers to states.
Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMA):
BLM will remove the “Priority Habitat Management Areas with limited exceptions (PHMA-LE) ” category, degrading their protection levels into the standards for PHMAs and thereby reducing the BLM’s restrictions on development.
In the Obama era BLM sage grouse management plans (which still apply today, due to our lawsuit) , there are sage grouse focal areas (SFA). SFA are sub-sets within the Priority Habitat Management Areas that have the greatest protection for the grouse, which includes withdrawal from mineral entry.
We think the Biden version got rid of SFA and replaced those with areas given the title of “Priority Habitat Management Areas with limited exceptions”, which are also subsets of the PHMA that have greater protections for the grouse. However the SFA were 10 million acres and PHMA -LE were 4.2 million acres (62% reduction). The Biden version upgraded some General Habitat Management Areas to PHMA (2.26 million acres) , but not enough of that happened to compensate for reduction of SFA areas. SD never had SFA, just GHMA and PHMA.
Now the Trump administration is getting rid of those highest quality areas entirely (whatever name you give the areas of highest protection & quality) . We object to this.
State-Specific Adjustments:
Utah: Habitat boundaries will be realigned to match the state’s Greater Sage-Grouse Conservation Plan.
Nevada: Allowed major rights-of-way (development corridors) in General Habitat Management Areas (GHMAs) will shift from “avoidance” to “open,” increasing accessibility for infrastructure.
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Policy Direction – The proposed RODs will open more land for energy/mining, in line with national energy priorities under Trump.
These changes come under the banner of President Trump’s Executive Order “Unleashing American Energy,” emphasizing increased energy development on public lands.
BLM says, the modifications were made post-protest and post-Governor consultations, in response to state feedback and evolving energy/development priorities.