MESSAGE FROM NATURAL RESOURCES POLICY DIRECTOR
Trouble is back on the horizon with the sage grouse issue ICA will keep speaking the truth about the bird’s habitat and threats, and those with grazing permits must stay active
O
ne year into the Biden administration and we continue to feel the dizzying effects brought on by a revolving door of elections and a new party in power. During the Trump administration, headway was made for agriculture producers as critical regulations were reformed. Damaging regulations put into place during the Obama administration, including the Waters of the United States (WOTUS) rule and the overarching sage grouse federal land management plans, were repealed and replaced. During that time frame, we also saw some important and needed updates to the Endangered Species Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. As the world turns, in one year, the replaced WOTUS has now been repealed, the NEPA and ESA improvements have been undone. The latest news is that the Biden administration is considering rolling back the sage grouse rule to the 2015 Obama version. And so we prepare to delve back into the two decades-long fight over how to manage habitat for a struggling species. To offer a very brief rundown of the recent history of the sage grouse management carousel, in 2015 sage grouse federal land management plans were issued. The plans largely overlooked the Idaho state plan, which had been crafted through careful and deliberate collaboration with a wide variety of stakeholders and government officials. It also called for the implementation of restrictive
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BY KAREN WILLIAMS ICA Natural Resources Policy Director
sagebrush focal areas and sought to regulate grazing in a way that was not only unnecessary for the species, but also unfounded in science. For that reason, when a new president was elected in 2016, we worked diligently to roll back those plans. That goal was accomplished, for the most part, in 2019, when the plans were updated; for Idaho, they closely mirrored the state plan and the agreed-upon recommendations. As expected, litigation ensued, and the plans were never implemented, as various lawsuits languished in court.
BUREAU OF LAND MANAGEMENT RESTARTS LAND MANAGEMENT PROCESS
Since the election of President Biden, we have waited with bated breath for the moment when the sage grouse issue would resurrect. Given the yo-yo history of the species’ management, and the obvious intentions of extremist organizations to use it as a tool to limit land-use activities, it came as no surprise that in late November 2021, the Bureau of Land Management announced its intent to undertake the process to amend the sage grouse land management plan – again. The announcement opened a scoping process to solicit public comments, which just came to a close on Feb. 7. This latest effort will open a months- to years-long undertaking to go through the required NEPA processes to amend the plans. There will be additional opportunities to provide public comment, and we will continue to encourage our membership to engage in this process. This initial comment period offered the chance to provide information to the BLM explaining the CONTINUED, PAGE 14 www.idahocattle.org
