Trihydro provides environmental, engineering, energy, transportation, and water resources services to public and private clients. From its initial start-up as a two-man firm in 1984, Trihydro has grown into a successful, dynamic firm of nearly 300 employees with 13 offices nationwide.

 

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February 2011

Sage Grouse Core Areas: What are they and how do they affect projects?

In early 2010, the Department of the Interior removed the sage grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) from consideration for federal protection. Although in the short-term it will not be on the endangered species list, the bird's status was classified as "warranted but precluded", which means that the bird and its habitat still needs effective management, albeit at the state or local level. As a proactive measure, the state of Wyoming established a Sage Grouse Implementation Team to develop management strategies to protect sage grouse habitat while meeting the needs of Wyoming's diverse economy. One of the team's mandates was to update and refine Wyoming's sage grouse "Core Area Protection" strategy, which was finalized by Governor Dave Freudenthal in August 2010. As part of this executive order, specific stipulations and permitting requirements for development in sage grouse core areas were established. The goal of the Core Area Protection strategy is to: 1) protect suitable sage grouse habitat, and 2) create methods to incentivize project proponents to locate activities in areas with unsuitable habitat. The following link is a map that depicts the current status of sage grouse Core Areas in Wyoming:

Sage Grouse Core Area Protection Map

The point of contact for all questions and concerns regarding development within a Core Area is the Wyoming Game and Fish Department (WGFD). The role of the WGFD is limited to consultation and coordination with the appropriate land management entity for the area in which the development activity will occur (e.g. private or fee, Bureau of Land Management [BLM], United States Forest Service [USFS], Wyoming Office of State Lands and Investments, etc.). All activities within a Core Area must now be summarized in a Project Impact Analysis Area (PIAA) delineation, which includes any sage grouse leks (gathering of males for the purposes of competitive mating display) within a four-mile radius of the project. As part of the PIAA evaluation, a disturbance analysis and habitat assessment is completed to determine the likelihood of actual impacts to sage grouse that may be present. The PIAA evaluation is submitted to the pertinent permitting agency (e.g. BLM, USFS) for review, along with approval recommendations from the WGFD. The basic stipulations for projects within a Core Area, if sage grouse or associated habitat is present, are listed below:

Surface disturbance: Limited to 5% of suitable sage grouse habitat for each 640 acre section.

Surface occupancy: Prohibited within 0.6 miles of the perimeter of occupied sage grouse leks.

Seasonal use: Activity is allowed from July 1 to March 14 outside of the 0.6 mile perimeter of a lek in core areas where breeding, nesting, and brood-rearing habitat is present.  In areas with winter use only, activity is allowed from March 14 to December 1.

Activities in habitat not suited to sage grouse will be allowed year-round, barring other federal or state permitting requirements. Additionally, existing activities will not be affected by the sage grouse Core Area Protection requirements. Other criteria for development within a Core Area include specific requirements for oil and gas activity and wind development, along with requirements for transportation activity, placement of overhead lines, noise, vegetation removal, sagebrush treatment, monitoring/adaptive response, and reclamation. If you have additional questions regarding the Core Area Protection requirement, please contact Aaron Maier, Certified Ecologist at amaier@trihydro.com or Trihydro at 307-745-7474.