The Trump administration proposed rolling back protections for the greater sage-grouse across eight Western states to open more federal land for energy and mineral development, while saying some key habitat within roughly 65 million acres will remain safeguarded. The plan would remove an annual population warning system and strip protections from more than 4 million acres in Utah. Conservation groups say the move risks pushing the species toward extinction and harming other wildlife.
Interior Dept. Rolls Back Sage-Grouse Protections, Opening Millions of Acres to Energy Development
United States Department of the Interior logo and U.S. flag are seen in this illustration taken April 23, 2025. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration
WASHINGTON, Dec 22 — The Trump administration on Monday moved to roll back federal protections for the greater sage-grouse across eight western states, freeing more public land for oil, gas and mineral development while saying it will continue to protect some key habitat.
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) said the proposed revisions would allow more development than the agency's 2015 plans permitted but still retain safeguards for portions of roughly 65 million acres of sagebrush country. The changes implement directives from two presidential executive orders issued earlier this year that the administration says are intended to boost U.S. energy production and strengthen energy independence.
Agency Statement. "We are strengthening American energy security while ensuring the sage-grouse continues to thrive," said Acting BLM Director Bill Groffy, defending the proposal as a balance between conservation and energy development.
Because populations plunged sharply in past decades, the greater sage-grouse was determined to be eligible for consideration under the Endangered Species Act in the early 2010s. Conservationists say protections put in place at that time helped slow habitat loss.
The administration's proposal would eliminate an annual "warning" mechanism designed to signal population declines of the ground-dwelling bird and would strip protections from more than 4 million acres of sage-grouse habitat in Utah. The revisions would also alter management in Idaho, Montana, North Dakota, South Dakota, Nevada, Wyoming and California.
"Trump's reckless actions will speed the extinction of greater sage-grouse by allowing unfettered fossil fuel extraction and other destructive development across tens of millions of acres of public lands,"
said Randi Spivak, Public Lands Policy Director at the Center for Biological Diversity.
Environmental groups warned that relaxing protections and expanding energy access on public lands could push the species closer to extinction and damage habitat used by other wildlife. The BLM says the changes are targeted to balance conservation priorities with economic development.
(Reporting by Valerie Volcovici; Editing by Rosalba O'Brien)
