The Bishop Field Office manages about 500,000 acres of sagebrush steppe on the western periphery of the Great Basin. Much of this "Sagebrush Country" provides important habitat for greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus). Greater sage-grouse populations in this portion of California are closely related to adjacent populations in western Nevada and delineate the southwestern limit of the species range (Greater sage-grouse species and range information links). Sage-grouse and sagebrush conservation have been a management focus for the Bishop Field Office for many years. Sage-grouse conservation in particular was a key issue during development of the "Bishop Resource Management Plan" (1993). This plan includes several land use prescriptions intended to help conserve greater sage-grouse in the eastern Sierra. On-going conservation activities in the Bishop Field Office include population and habitat monitoring, species and habitat protection, habitat improvement and restoration, and the development of local area conservation plans. BLM's "National Sage-Grouse Habitat Conservation Strategy" (2004) provides additional momentum for the implementation of on-the-ground conservation actions and the development of local area conservation plans at the field office level. The Bi-State Planning Area section of the "Sage-Grouse Conservation Plan for Nevada and Eastern California" (June 30, 2004) (pdf 1.15mb), specifically addresses conservation planning for greater sage-grouse populations in the eastern Sierra. Development of this "local area conservation plan" occurred under the umbrella of the Nevada Governor's Sage-Grouse Conservation Team. This effort clearly recognizes the importance of interstate conservation planning for greater sage-grouse populations occurring along the California/Nevada border. The foundation of this local area conservation plan is participation from a wide variety of public and private stakeholders. Greater sage-grouse populations associated with Long Valley (343kb map pdf) and the Bodie Hills (335kb map pdf) comprise the largest and best documented greater sage-grouse populations in the Bi-State Planning Area (321kb map pdf). Both of these populations are dependent upon lands managed by the Bishop Field Office for their survival (Greater sage-grouse conservation information link). 
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