BLM Proposes New Protections for Endangered Gunnison Sage Grouse in Colorado and Utah with Habitat Buffers.

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is proposing a new plan to protect the endangered Gunnison sage grouse, which is found only in southwest Colorado and southeast Utah. The plan involves setting buffers around sensitive habitat in 2.1 million areas in Colorado and Utah, with the goal of limiting development activities. The proposed land-use restrictions include establishing 1-mile buffers around all Gunnison grouse breeding grounds, called leks, even if they are uninactive, historic, unknown, occupied, and unoccupied. The proposal also includes designating three new “areas of critical environmental concern” or ACECs, covering 41,960 acres of BLM-managed lands, mostly designed to protect habitat for the grouse.