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BLM summarizes 2025 RMP amendment; litigation and local implementation next steps discussed
Summary
BLM officials briefed the council on the December 22, 2025 Record of Decision for the northeastern California-Nevada greater sage-grouse RMP amendment, noting updates to habitat modeling, consistent cross-state decision numbering, and adaptive-management provisions; environmental groups have filed suit challenging the ROD.
The Bureau of Land Management briefed the Sagebrush Ecosystem Council on April 16 about the Bureaus northeastern California-Nevada range-wide RMP amendment record of decision (ROD), published December 22, 2025. Tim Bowden, BLMs sage program lead, said the ROD standardizes management decision numbering, adopts updated USGS habitat modeling and criteria-based management for Habitat Management Areas (HMAs), and retains Nevadas participation in the Conservation Credit System for mitigation.
"One of the big reasons for developing this plan was to provide consistent and effective rangewide management direction," Bowden said, explaining that the amendment responds to updated science and a court order affecting prior plans.
Key changes and Nevada-specific points: the new plan employs an updated USGS model to define habitat-management areas and adopts a criteria-based management approach that permits site-specific departures (on a project basis) where on-the-ground conditions differ from mapped HMA categories. Bowden also said the plan formally adopts the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agenciesdefinition of lek status and GHMAs for consistency across the range, while recognizing state-specific implementation.
BLM staff emphasized that the ROD does not amend Nevadas CCS approach; instead, it retained the states conservation credit mitigation framework and signaled BLM would work with state partners to develop memoranda of understanding for adaptive management and wild-horse management thresholds.
Legal challenge: environmental groups have filed suit asking courts to overturn the RMP amendment, arguing that BLM did not address the issues raised in earlier litigation. "I believe ultimately it's down to the fact that, you know, BLM didn't go far enough," Alan Shepard, BLM, said when summarizing public criticism and the substance of the complaint; BLM reported it is reviewing the litigation and the record.
Local implementation: BLM staff described plans to field-verify mapped HMAs and to convene local interagency groups to resolve site-scale HMA classification questions. During the council discussion, BLM staff also explained how the ROD allows project-level review and, where necessary, adjustments that are briefed to the BLM state director for concurrence.
Provenance: summary based on BLM presentation and Q&A recorded in the council transcript (Tim Bowden and Alan Shepard, SEG 1972 to SEG 2410 and the litigation discussion SEG 2591-2616).
