FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
May 28, 2015

Media contact:
Dan Heilig, senior conservation advocate, Wyoming Outdoor Council, (307) 332-7031 x13; dan@wyomingoutdoorcouncil.org

Courtesy Scott Copeland Images

U.S. Department of the Interior Announces Ambitious Conservation Plan for Greater Sage-Grouse

CHEYENNE — The U.S. Department of the Interior announced the release on Thursday of more than a dozen land-use plans that include tens of millions of acres of important Greater sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming and in nine other states.

Wyoming Governor Matt Mead joined Interior Department Secretary Sally Jewell and representatives from the Bureau of Land Management, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and the US. Forest Service in Cheyenne to announce the release and to praise the conservation strategy.

“The Wyoming Outdoor Council commends the hard work and the unprecedented collaborative approach that led to this big-picture strategy for conserving greater sage-grouse,” said Dan Heilig, senior conservation advocate with the Wyoming Outdoor Council. “This species, and sage-grouse habitat in general, is in trouble and it’s going to take a historic multi-state effort to avoid an endangered species listing for sage-grouse. It’s important to remember that what was released today is only a framework for management. Its success will only be as good as its implementation and its ability to adapt and continually incorporate the latest science. Nobody knows yet if we got this right. We’ll know more when we see how the bird as a species responds to these measures.”

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