| Cumulative effects assessment for Greater Sage-Grouse involved innovative approaches to assessment of a landscape-level species across multiple states. The cumulative effects area was defined as the management zone, one of six floristic provinces established by the Western Association of Fish and Wildlife Agencies (WAFWA) across GRSG range. The geographical and temporal scope of each analysis included the species' eastern (Great Plains) or western (Rocky Mountain) range, with time evaluation extending forward 40 years. The analysis examined the incremental impacts of the Bureau of Land Management and Forest Service actions in GRSG habitat, in combination with other past, present and reasonably foreseeable future actions on public and private lands. These included development of oil and gas, alternative energy and infrastructure, as well as risk of impacts for stochastic events such as wildfire. Indirect effects of public management on private lands providing GRSG habitat were also considered, along with the interaction among actions, whether additive, countervailing, or synergistic. A case study of Utah shows how the interaction of multiple stressors across GRSG populations could determine the effectiveness of management actions.
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