WASHINGTON — Protections safeguarding the Greater Sage-Grouse habitat across the western United States are still currently in place, and yet 76 percent of the Bureau of Land Management (BLM)’s upcoming and newly offered oil and gas leasing on public lands occurs inside protected habitat across Colorado, Nevada, Utah, and Wyoming, according to new mapping. The map and accompanying data table use information from the BLM’s lease sale page and the agency’s Landscape Approach Data Portal to show leasing in grouse habitat by state, including calculations about how much of each sale is in habitat. Notably, the 2015 sage-grouse plans incorporate varying level of protections for all sage-grouse habitat and tell BLM to prioritize leasing outside of habitat. According to the new mapping, nearly all—99.9 percent—of the 1.3 million acres being offered for oil and gas leases in upcoming sales in Wyoming intersects with sage-grouse habitat on public lands in the state. In...