A Report on the Economic Impact to Wyoming's Economy from a Potential Listing of the Sage Grouse

Abstract

After providing background information on the sage-grouse and its management, this report analyzes the economic impact of sage-grouse conservation measures in Wyoming, and attempts to predict the economic impact of sage-grouse listing as threatened or endangered. The economic impact analysis considers the following standpoints: 1) a baseline analysis of the projected economic importance of commodity production from all sage-grouse habitat in Wyoming; 2) projected reductions in commodity production in Wyoming associated with recently released Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) land use plan amendments for sage-grouse including the 9-Plan Sage-Grouse Amendment EIS, the Lander Resource Management Plan (RMP) the Bighorn Basin RMP, and the Buffalo RMP; and 3) an attempt to estimate the potential reduction in commodity production in Wyoming associated with a listing of sage-grouse as a threaten or endangered species under the ESA.

Keywords: Sage Grouse, Wyoming, Endangered Species Act, Economic Impact, Commodity Production, Greater Sage Grouse, Sage Grouse Implementation Team, Sage Grouse Resource Management Plan Amendments