Idaho State Sage Grouse Plan Accepted

After a lot of hard work and collaboration from the task force group, the United State’s Fish and Wildlife Service has endorsed the Idaho state sage grouse plan. This state task force is comprised of resource users, conservationists, biologists and state agency members most with many years of experience in working on the sage grouse issue.

Richard Savage, ICA past-president and sage grouse task force member shares that this collaborative plan seems to have what is needed.

Savage: “At this point the Service has said it really gives them the regulatory mechanisms to protect the bird. But yet has been done in a dynamic fashion that allows the BLM and multiple-use users out there to be able to continue with their use of the land as well.”

Next steps include buy-in from the Fish and Wildlife Services sister agencies. Savage says that by including the BLM in the task force, it has helped the group learn what is needed in order for approval.

Savage: “They have their management protocals that they have to follow. That is why it is important that we’ve been working with BLM along so that we understand how this needs to be crafted so it will work for them. We aren’t there yet, but we are confident that we can get there.”

Savage says he is pleased with the plan.

Savage: “We’ve worked hand in hand on this for the past year and I’m pretty happy with what we’ve come up with as a product.”