RBC Commissioners met at the courthouse in Meeker Tuesday and heard from Bill Mills, one of the White River Field Office field managers for the Bureau of Land Management. Mills congratulated BLM staff members Kyle Arnold, Tyrell Turner, Matt Dupire and James Roberts for “very successfully completing the largest horse[Read More…]
Tag: Sage Grouse
Commissioners Approve 2022 Budget
Rio Blanco County commissioners issued final approval for the 2022 budget Tuesday evening after months of deliberation, meetings with staff, community members and elected officials. The full budget as-approved in its entirety is available at https://www.rbc.us/160/Budget-Finance. Additional information on all local government budgets is detailed in previous reporting at https://www.theheraldtimes.com/?s=budget[Read More…]
Guest Column: Attorney praises Hickenlooper, Zinke for sage grouse actions
By Kent Holsinger Special to the Herald Times RBC | There are many ruffled feathers about the U.S. Department of the Interior’s efforts to revise land use plan amendments for greater sage-grouse. But critics are telling only part of the story. Greater sage-grouse inhabit some 165 million acres across 11[Read More…]
BLM accepting comments on sagebrush habitats
RBC | The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) is accepting comment on a plan to streamline the approval process for habitat improvement projects to benefit wildlife and grazing in northwestern Colorado. As part of its multiple-use mission, the BLM manages the land that wildlife and livestock depend upon. The Northwest[Read More…]
Commissioners meet in Rangely
RANGELY | The Rio Blanco County Commissioners met Monday morning for their monthly meeting in Rangely. In the short meeting they accepted a grant and agreed to support a lawsuit against the federal government. The commissioners signed a declaration of support for Garfield, Jackson and Moffat Counties to jointly file[Read More…]
BLM taking public comments on sage-grouse projects
RBC | The Bureau of Land Management is accepting comments on a plan to streamline the approval process for habitat improvement projects to benefit Greater Sage-Grouse and other wildlife in northwestern Colorado. As BLM begins developing a programmatic environmental assessment that takes a broad look at possible projects in sagebrush[Read More…]
Grouse, clean air topics of turmoil for West states
RBC I When Interior Secretary Sally Jewell announced in September that the greater sage grouse would not be listed as endangered, Nevada’s Brian Sandoval, a Republican, was one of four Western governors applauding. States retained management of the bird in what Sandoval described as a “big win” resulting from intense[Read More…]
Sage grouse plans run delicate balance
RBC I Northern spotted owls are white-and-brown tree dwellers with sprays of feathers between their eyes. Greater sage grouse are football-sized ground-strutters, whose males flaunt yellow chest sacs during mating season.
AGNC disappointed by sage grouse listing
RBC I The Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC) issued a statement late last week on behalf of its member governments concerning the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service’s (USFWS) recent decision to list the Gunnison Sage Grouse as “threatened” under the Endangered Species Act.
Sage grouse draft plans released; public comment sought on plan, DEIS
RBC I On Friday, the Bureau of Land Management and Routt National Forest released the Draft Northwest Colorado Greater Sage-Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendment and Draft Environmental Impact Statement for a 90-day public comment period.
AGNC requests action on sage grouse report
RBC I Associated Governments of Northwest Colorado (AGNC) chairman Mike Samson, acting on behalf of the five-county membership, has written to Colorado Governor Hickenlooper asking for immediate assistance regarding the damaging impact that will result if the BLM adopts the National Technical Team’s (NTT) report. The report is considered by[Read More…]