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The biggest piece of the puzzle over whether greater sage grouse will be listed under the Endangered Species Act dropped Thursday during a news conference at a Wyoming ranch.

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced final management plans have been released in 10 states for Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands.

"The West is rapidly changing — with increasingly intense wildfires, invasive species and development altering the sagebrush landscape and threatening wildlife, ranching and our outdoor heritage," Jewell said. "As land managers of two-thirds of greater sage grouse habitat, we have a responsibility to take action that ensures a bright future for wildlife and a thriving Western economy. Together with conservation efforts from states and private landowners, we are laying an important foundation to save the disappearing sagebrush landscape of the American West."

In Utah, federal officials worked with the state to complete land management plans on roughly 4 million acres of BLM and Forest Service areas. The federal plans, nearly 100 of them, now will be placed on a 60-day review period. There's also a concurrent 30-day protest period.

"We will continue to work with our state and local partners with the shared goal of establishing strong, science-based management and conservation commitments across the range of the bird that allow the [U.S.] Fish and Wildlife Service to conclude the protections of the Endangered Species Act are not needed for the greater sage grouse," said Jenna Whitlock, acting state director of the BLM's Utah office.

The wildlife service is required by law to make a determination on whether the greater sage grouse should be listed under the Endangered Species Act by Sept. 30.

Sage grouse once flourished in the West's sagebrush sea, numbering as many as 16 million birds across North America. But biologists now estimate somewhere between 200,000 and 400,000 birds live in the West.

Jewell's piece of the puzzle has some jagged edges and may not fit into the vision of all stakeholders. The decision will not only impact sage grouse, but also the 350 species known to rely on the sagebrush steppe habitat of the West and the economies, namely the energy- extraction industry, that use the same areas.

"The bottom line comes down to implementation of the BLM plans and commitments to sagebrush ecosystem conservation that will actually improve sage grouse populations," said Miles Moretti, president and CEO of the Utah-based Mule Deer Foundation.

"We not only need strong conservation plans, but also strong commitments and funding to ensure the plans manifest into real conservation actions and long-term improvements on the ground," he said.

In Utah, 56 percent of lands occupied by greater sage grouse are controlled by the federal government. Private landowners manage 34 percent of sage grouse habitat in Utah. And local or state lands make up 10 percent.

Jewell said the federal plans do not lock up development and will not threaten the important heritage of farming and ranching in the West.

Oil and gas leasing on BLM and Forest Service lands will continue, but require new leases to limit surface disturbance in priority habitat. The plans will not put lands off-limits to grazing. Federal officials note that out of about 8.3 million acres of high and medium oil potential areas in Utah, approximately 39,000 acres, or about 1 percent, will be impacted by the plans.

Afraid the state's growing oil and gas industry will be quashed if the grouse joins the endangered list, Utah leaders have joined a regional campaign — and spent $3 million in the last legislative session alone — to try to discourage the listing of the bird.

While some fear the impact of the plans, let alone a federal listing, on local economies, others worry not enough will be done to keep the iconic birds from fading away.

"This planning process definitely has the potential of finally conserving a quintessential American species and landscape, but half-measures won't cut it. The future of sage grouse and the Sagebrush Sea is at stake," said Jamie Rappaport Clark, president and CEO of Defenders of Wildlife.

"Ultimately, if the final plans do not adequately protect sage grouse, then the process cannot be called a success," Clark said. "We intend to review these final plans carefully to assess their strength for sage grouse conservation and hope they will achieve what is needed for the long-term benefit of the grouse, the Sagebrush Sea and people who live, work and recreate on this fragile, but vital landscape."

Twitter: @BrettPrettyman —

Key approaches to safeguarding sagebrush

Secretary of the Interior Sally Jewell announced Thursday management plans for Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands in 10 western states. The plans, according to the Department of Interior, include three common approaches:

• Minimizing new or additional disturbance of land. The plans seek to reduce habitat fragmentation and protect intact habitat by putting caps on how much development can disturb the land surfaces, minimizing surface occupancy from energy development, and identifying buffer distances around leks — areas critical to the sage grouse life-cycle.

• Improving habitat . While restoring lost sagebrush habitat is difficult in the short term, it is often possible to enhance habitat quality through management. Where there are unavoidable impacts from development, the plans will require mitigation.

• Reducing the threat of rangeland fire. Fire can lead to the conversion of previously healthy sagebrush habitat into non-native, cheatgrass-dominated landscapes. Experts have identified wildfire as one of the greatest threats to sagebrush habitat, particularly in the Great Basin region of Idaho, Utah, Nevada, Oregon and California. The plans seek to fight the spread of cheatgrass and other invasive species, position wildland fire management resources for more effective response, and accelerate the restoration of fire-impacted landscapes to native grasses and sagebrush.