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Montana Ag Network: March 18th Noon Report – Sage grouse habitat management

Posted at 12:56 PM, Mar 18, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-19 17:57:19-04

On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service announced they were amending land use plans for Greater Sage-Grouse habitat management on public lands in seven states.

The goal was to better align federal plans for managing habitat with state plans for conserving the species. The state of Montana chose not to amend its sage grouse plans and agriculture and conservation groups are reacting to the news.

The Montana Farm Bureau Federations Executive Vice President John Youngberg explained how the amended plans came about.

“The plan amendments are the result of bipartisan coordination and discussion through the Sage-Grouse Task Force, which provides a forum for state/federal collaboration and information exchange. The Task Force is facilitated by the Western Governors’ Association, but the association does not have a formal position on the amended plans.”

Montana was not a part of the federal amendment process as the state felt it could improve its sage grouse plan through administrative means and resources. The Montana Farm Bureau believes the state has a solid plan, but there is still much work to be done for the species.

“Montana has a great plan and it particularly pertains to private land,” Youngberg explained. “Now the grazing part of the BLM plan is not particularly restrictive to agriculture. I think that’s something we can live with, but we need to keep watching this and make sure that we’re doing our part to protect the habitat and protect the species. If we don’t there will be another challenge to that in the courts. If there’s another challenge, we may not win it and it may end up being listed which would be much more restrictive for all farmers and ranchers in all industry in Montana.”

Conservation groups like the Montana Wildlife Federation (MWF) are disappointed with the decision calling it a reckless move by the federal government, which has emboldened some Montana legislators to call for backing out of the sage-grouse conservation at the state-level as well.

“What we’re really seeing here is the Interior Department is kicking every leg out of the table and that’s just not in the interest of the species,” said Dave Chadwick is the Executive Director of MWF.  “It’s not in the interest of the hundreds of other species that depend on sagebrush habitat and it’s not in the interest of public land users, private landowners and everybody who lives and works in sage-grouse country. You know that everybody is endangered when we face the risk of this specie get species getting listed under the federal Endangered Species Act.”

Like Montana, North and South Dakota will not make amendments to their sage grouse-plans. Wyoming, Nevada, California, Idaho, Oregon, Utah and Colorado all asked for plan amendments.

In other news, the NILE Stock Show and Rodeo is once again accepting applications for the 2019-2020 NILE Merit Heifer program.

The NILE Merit Heifer program is a live animal scholarship, meaning the recipients are given a young, live, heifer calf. The objective is to help youth get a start in the beef cattle business and gain knowledge about the beef industry.

Program participants are chosen based on merit, future goals, and ability to care for the animal. 4-H or FFA members who are 12-16 years old may apply. Applicants are not limited to Montana residents.

Applications are due on June 28th, 2019.

In addition, the NILE Merit Heifer Program is also seeking those who would be interested in donating a heifer calf for the upcoming year. For more on the merit heifer project and all the NILE does, visit www.thenile.org.

-Reported by Lane Nordlund/MTN News