Greater Sage-Grouse Habitat Management Areas for Southwestern Montana and Idaho

Greater Sage-Grouse Management Areas delineated for the Great Basin Region's Idaho-Southwestern Montana sub-region. The data classifies habitat into three conservation tiers: Priority Habitat Management Areas (PHMA), Important Habitat Management Areas (IHMA), and General Habitat Management Areas (GHMA). It was developed by the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, State of Idaho, and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, with final edits made in May 2015.

Use Cases

• Analyze spatial overlap between the 'Habitat_Management_Area' field (PHMA, IHMA, GHMA) and other land-use layers to assess conservation conflicts.
• Model potential sage-grouse population corridors using the geometry of 'PHMA' polygons as core habitat zones.
• Evaluate the 'GHMA' designated areas, often annual grasslands, for habitat restoration potential based on their marginal condition classification.

Strengths

• Polygon data includes three specific management classifications (PHMA, IHMA, GHMA) with defined conservation criteria.
• Development involved multiple authoritative agencies including BLM, U.S. Forest Service, and state wildlife offices.

Limitations

• Dataset is static, representing a 2015 administrative plan snapshot with no stated update schedule.
• Specific row/feature count and total geographic area are not provided in the metadata.

Provenance

Source

Department of the Interior, Bureau of Land Management (BLM).

Collection Method

Delineated by interagency collaboration based on sage-grouse occupancy, landscape, habitat, and land use considerations.

Time Range

Administrative draft proposed plan from 2013-2014, with a final layer edit in May 2015.

Freshness

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Geography

Great Basin Region, specifically the Idaho and Southwestern Montana sub-region.