GREATER SAGE GROUSE – TAKE 3: WHERE DO WE STAND?
Tuesday, April 13, 2021 at 9:00 am PDT, 10:00 am MDT, 11:00 am CDT, 12:00 pm EDT for 1.5 hours
Pricing: Member $55 | Nonmember $75 | Government $60 | Nonprofit $60
Greater Sage Grouse habitat has been a pivotal issue for oil and gas, renewable energy, and hard rock mining projects on public lands. So, what is the status of habitat conservation requirements on public lands for the Greater Sage Grouse? How did we get here and where exactly do we stand?
In 2011, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) launched a land use planning process to provide for adequate regulatory mechanisms for Greater Sage Grouse habitat conservation in an effort to avoid a determination that the species should be listed as endangered. That land use planning effort just recently concluded after multiple lawsuits, a remand of related 2015 records of decision, a new record of decision in 2019, another lawsuit challenging the 2019 record of decision, and an injunction halting implementation of the 2019 plans. With that injunction in place, the 2015 plans were once again being implemented. In response to the injunction, the BLM conducted another round of analysis and public comment and issued a notice in the final days of the Trump Administration confirming the decision in the 2019 plans.
This webinar will describe the pending claims in the lawsuit challenging the 2019 plans, discuss the status of that lawsuit in light of the BLM’s recent action, the status of the USFS planning process, and the potential outcomes that may lie ahead.
J.J. GOICOECHEA, Eureka County Commission Chairman, Eureka County, NV
LAURA K. GRANIER (moderator), Partner, Holland & Hart, Reno, NV
ERIK MOLVAR, Executive Director, Western Watersheds Project, Laramie, WY
BRET SUMNER, Shareholder, Beatty & Wozniak, P.C., Denver, CO
1.5 HOURS OF CLE AVAILABLE!