The Honorable Patty Murray The Honorable Tom Cole

The sage-grouse rider has, for the last ten years, prohibited the U. [...] The consequences of the rider – most notably, the continued lack of an effective framework for greater sage-grouse conservation and 1 recovery as evidenced by the Bureau of Land Management’s (BLM) latest draft plan revisions – have been devastating for the bird and its habitat. [...] The finding sparked the National Greater Sage-Grouse Planning Strategy, a cooperative effort by states, federal agencies, industry, and other stakeholders to reduce the likelihood of listing by adding effective, science-based conservation measures for the species to land use plans. [...] The drive behind these plans dwindled, however, after Congress passed the first sage-grouse rider in 2014, removing both the possibility of ESA listing and the incentive to implement effective measures by land managers. [...] Congress has included the sage-grouse rider in appropriations legislation every year since 2014, repeatedly preventing wildlife experts at the Service from making a scientific determination on the status of the sage grouse based on population levels and trends.