The wild burro population in northwest Arizona is about four times the appropriate management level, according to the Bureau of Land Management.

The agency is seeking public comment on a proposal which would decrease the number of wild burros in three herd management areas south of Kingman. There are about 2,300 burros in the area.

Philip Cooley - branch chief for biological resources with the BLM's Arizona office - said burro numbers have exceeded what the land is capable of supporting, which has consequences for wildlife habitat and local communities.

"The animals overuse the resources in their herd management area and then, as those resources start getting overused and they're competing for the resources, they start moving out into areas outside of the herd management area," said Cooley. "And this is when we can have concerns with the animals going onto private property and causing damage."

Cooley added that the proposal calls for using temporary fertility controls, sex-ratio adjustments and periodic removals of wild burros over a 10-year period.

Although some wild horse and burro advocates prefer other alternatives, Cooley added that it's important to make sure all uses on public lands in Arizona are taken into account.

The comment period closes October 11.

Cooley said because wild burros have very few natural predators and are protected from hunting, herds can quickly grow in size. He added that Arizona is one of several BLM states that has a wild horse and burro program, and says there are coordinated efforts among those states to - in his words - "leverage resources and manage things appropriately."

Cooley said when animals are removed from the range, they're put into the BLM's Adoption and Sales Program, to be placed in private homes off the range.

"We do the 'gathers' in combination with the fertility control," said Cooley. "It's not permanent sterilization, it is a temporary fertility control, that slows down how fast the animals repopulate. It delays getting huge overpopulations."

He added that the agency determines the numbers for each herd management area by analyzing the rangeland resources, as well as population data spanning several years.

A new poll indicates strong support for protections of the West's greater sage-grouse. The results come as the U.S. Bureau of Land Management considers a plan for improving conservation of the bird. BLM is reviewing public comments on its draft environmental impact statement for amending and strengthening sage grouse protections. The agency has plenty of public support for this: a poll commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts found 93% of people surveyed back the BLM's efforts to protect the bird and its habitat.

Tyler Dungannon, conservation coordinator with Oregon Hunters Association, said many support even greater protections.

"In the Western U.S., roughly 70% favored restricting some development of specific public lands to ensure long term habitat protections for sage grouse," he explained.

The poll also found that nearly 60% of respondents say sage grouse conservation efforts boost economic development. Oregon Department of Fish and Wildlife data from 2019 says hunting, fishing and wildlife viewing fueled $1.2 billion in spending in the state.

Josh Collins, a retired landscape ecologist in Bend, said there are positives to BLM's plans for conserving sage grouse, including the expansion of Areas of Critical Environmental Concern for the bird and the agency elevating conservation as one of is priorities on public lands. But he added that there's also room for improvement, such as a focus on ensuring sage grouse chicks have wildflowers to feed on in their first few weeks of life.

"One of the things missing in the BLM report and almost every other state or federal report concerning the sage grouse is a focus on the dietary needs of the chicks and the brood hens," he continued.

Collins adds that bringing back the sage grouse means bringing back wildflowers in the region, which will benefit other species.

"Young pronghorn benefit from that, they eat wildflowers. And, of course, the pygmy rabbit does. Many birds are feeding on the insects that are attracted by the wildflowers. So, the wildflower is kind of a missing piece of the foundation of the ecological health for the whole system," he said.


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The U.S. Forest Service is considering changes to modernize the Northwest Forest Plan.

While it was hailed as a success when it was created 30 years ago, the Forest Service wants to update the plan to address new challenges to the region. To help with the process, the agency convened an advisory committee, which unanimously approved 192 recommendations for the plan.

Susan Jane Brown, chief legal counsel for Silvix Resources, a nonprofit environmental law firm based in Oregon, co-chaired the committee and said tribal inclusion and rights were among the most critical issues to address because they weren't included in the original plan.

"That was a pretty substantial oversight and something that the federal advisory committee wanted to correct this time around," Brown explained. "We really wanted to center indigenous perspectives and indigenous knowledge in the management of these forests."

The plan guides management of more than 19 million acres of land across Washington, Oregon and northern California. The Forest Service is moving forward with the amendment process for the plan. Brown pointed out a draft environmental impact statement was expected in August but it has been pushed back. The agency is incorporating the committee's recommendations for a draft analysis, as well as other alternatives.

The Forest Service is looking to address three threats: invasive species, particularly large and severe wildfires and climate change. Brown argued the issues need to be addressed quickly.

"Our forests and communities are in desperate need of clear management direction given the wildfire crisis, given the climate crisis that we're also experiencing right now," Brown emphasized. "We really need an updated management plan that is equipped to deal with those new challenges."

Travis Joseph, president and CEO of the American Forest Resource Council, co-chaired the federal advisory committee. He said the committee gathered diverse interests and did the hard work to collaborate on their recommendations to the Forest Service.

"There is a path forward, and we can move beyond the hyperbole and the 'forest wars' of the past," Joseph contended. "If we focus on what we have in common and the outcomes that we want to achieve, we can move beyond the past and frankly build a brighter future."

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.


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The Bureau of Land Management proposed a new plan for public lands in southwest Wyoming, that makes some headway for conservation.

The BLM's new resource management plan for the 3.6 million acre Rock Springs Field Office is the first update since 1997.

According to the agency, the plan incorporates both new science and updated federal priorities including renewable energy and federal-Tribal relations.

The BLM must consider mining, grazing, recreation interests and - as of a rule effective in June - the "health and resilience of ecosystems."

Meghan Riley, wildlife program manager with the Wyoming Outdoors Council, said some parts of the plan strike an effective balance - for example, prioritizing greater sage-grouse and big-game species in the area's northern portion.

"It's sort of a win-win," said Riley, "because there's limited potential and even no potential for a lot of mineral development in that area."

The agency had four alternative plans to work with, and chose a mix of what it calls the "conservation" and "balanced" options.

In a statement, Gov. Mark Gordon said the new one "does not meet Wyoming's expectations."

The final mix of options significantly scales back some conservation opportunities, including cutting the number of areas of environmental concern from 16 to 12.

Riley said the plan could have further protected crucial wildlife habitats such as winter range and migration corridors across the whole area, rather than applying the strongest protections in only a few locations.

"Having management actions that are tied to specific habitat types might allow the agency to be more nimble," said Riley, "in updating management as new maps and data are available from the state."

The public protest period runs through September 23.

Support for this reporting was provided by The Pew Charitable Trusts.




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