Polis Administration Statement on BLM’s Greater Sage Grouse Conservation and Management Draft Plan

DENVER - Colorado Governor Jared Polis and Colorado Department of Natural Resources Executive Director Dan Gibbs, released the following statements on the U.S. Bureau of Land Management’s publication of a draft plan to strengthen greater sage-grouse conservation and management on public lands.

“The BLM process engaged Coloradans from across the range of the greater sage-grouse and we thank the agency for their collaboration. The bipartisan Western Governors’ Association Sage-grouse Task Force has been involved since 2023, which led to comprehensive discussions during this plan’s development. Colorado’s partnership with the BLM was key to ensuring we have the best plan available to protect this keystone species of our sagebrush ecosystems,” said Colorado Governor Jared Polis.  

Governor Polis served as chair of the Western Governors Association in 2023 and led the landmark Heat Beneath Our Feet initiative. Coloradans are encouraged to review the plans and provide comments.  

“I appreciate the proactive cooperation and collaboration of the US Bureau of Land Management in developing the greater sage-grouse conservation and management plan.  Both Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW) and the Colorado Department of Natural Resources (DNR) have separate agreements in place for the development of the Greater sage-grouse Resources Management Plan Amendment and Environmental Impact Statement (RMPA/EIS) providing us with cooperating agency status since late 2022.  The entire process of developing the BLM greater sage-grouse RMPA has been robust for Colorado,” said Dan Gibbs, Executive Director of the Colorado Department of Natural Resources. 

“We have had monthly connections since 2022 and meetings in areas across Colorado important to greater sage-grouse management. Throughout this process CPW also provided technical information and data on our greater sage-grouse populations and habitat,” added Director Gibbs.

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