No. 326, December 5, 2002

BIG SUR GRAZING SUSPENDED TO PROTECT ENDANGERED BUTTERFLY

   

DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK SUSPENDS GRAZING TO PROTECT RARE BUTTERFLY

   

FOREST SERVICE TO REVIEW GRAZING IMPACTS TO MILLION OF ACRES IN ARIZONA

   

STUDY: FEDERAL GRAZING PROGRAM LOSES OVER $500 MILLION PER YEAR

   

MEDIA FEATURE: CATTLE STILL KILLING WESTERN RIVERS

   

CORRECTION: PUBLIC LANDS GRAZING ROAD SHOW HITS CALIFORNIA

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BIG SUR GRAZING SUSPENDED TO PROTECT ENDANGERED BUTTERFLY

After threat of legal action by the Center for Biological Diversity and the Ventana Wilderness Alliance, the Los Padres National Forest has agreed to suspend livestock grazing on another 5,700 acres of the Big Sur coast; this time to protect the endangered Smith's blue butterfly. The prohibition applies to the San Carpoforo grazing allotment and on an adjacent, newly acquired area called "Sur Sur."

The agreement expands on an earlier victory which resulted in a permanent ban of livestock on over 6,000 acres of the Ventana Wilderness and the Cone Peak Botanical Area. At present, none of the coastal grazing allotments along the Big Sur are being grazed. Cattle will not be permitted on the newly protected lands until a comprehensive environmental analysis is completed.


DEATH VALLEY NATIONAL PARK SUSPENDS GRAZING TO PROTECT RARE BUTTERFLY

The U.S. National Park Service has agreed to build a wildlife-friendly cattle exclosure around a unique high meadow complex on Hunter Mountain within Death Valley National Park to protect the endemic Hunter Mountain copper butterfly and its host plant (a rumex species). It will also soon propose to exclude cattle from additional riparian areas.

The Hunter Mountain grazing allotment is the last remaining cattle allotment in Death Valley National Park. The Center for Biological Diversity is continuing its campaign to protect the entirety of the Park from livestock impacts.


FOREST SERVICE TO REVIEW GRAZING IMPACTS TO MILLION OF ACRES IN ARIZONA

As a result of research under the Freedom of Information Act and subsequent legal action by the Center for Biological Diversity and Forest Guardians, the U.S. Forest Service will reassess the impacts of livestock grazing to endangered species on the entire Coronado National Forest and parts of the Coconino and Tonto National Forests. The agency had agreed to abide by mandatory livestock restrictions in response to an earlier lawsuit by the two groups, then failed to implement the restrictions. This resulted in followup legal action forcing the Forest Service to re-assess its impacts on millions of acres. Among the endangered species that should benefit from the new review are the Mexican spotted owl, razorback sucker, Little Colorado spinedace and the lesser long-nosed bat.


STUDY: FEDERAL GRAZING PROGRAM LOSES OVER $500 MILLION PER YEAR

A new study commissioned by the Center for Biological Diversity shows that livestock grazing on U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management lands costs U.S. taxpayers over $500 million per year. The study, "Assessing the Full Cost of the Federal Grazing Program," was conducted by economists Karyn Moskowitz (University of Kentucky) and Chuck Romaniello (Bureau of Land Management). It determined that the absolute minimum cost to taxpayers each year is $128 million. Factoring in additional costs of supporting ranching on public lands and mitigating the environmental damage caused by livestock, brings the total into the range of $500 million to $1 billion. A precise determination of costs can not be made because the BLM and Forest Service accounting methods are inadequate.

The report found that even if ranchers were made to pay market rates for their grazing privileges, it would still not be enough to cover all the taxpayer costs. Currently, the livestock industry pays nearly ten times less than market rates to graze cattle on federal lands.

The report is online.


MEDIA FEATURE: CATTLE STILL KILLING WESTERN RIVERS

A special edition of Cascadia Times profiles the severe damage still being caused to western rivers by the livestock industry. The report examines ten rivers in detail, including the Gila River, where a landmark series of lawsuits by the Center for Biological Diversity and Forest Guardians removed cows from over 300 miles of streams and rivers. Cascadia Times found that all ten rivers are suffering from a lack of water and the "pulverizing" of the watersheds by livestock.

Copies of the feature are available from the Center, or it can be read online.


CORRECTION: PUBLIC LANDS GRAZING ROAD SHOW HITS CALIFORNIA

Our previous announcement listed the Palms Springs show as December 9. It is December 19.

The Public Lands Grazing Road Show is celebrating the release of George Wuerthner's new book "Welfare Ranching: The Subsidized Destruction of the American West" and video by the Center for Biological Diversity and Sierra Club entitled "Desert or Pasture? Cattle and the American Southwest."

Come to San Diego, Los Angeles and Palm Springs to learn everything you always wanted to know about the fantastically subsidized, amazingly abusive, and nearly forgotten public lands livestock grazing industry. The shows are free of charge.

San Diego
12-6-02, 7:30-9:00 pm
San Diego Zoo's Otto Center
2920 Zoo Drive

Los Angeles/West Hollywood
12-7-02, 7:30-9:00 pm
Plummer Park
7377 Santa Monica Boulevard

Palm Springs
12-19-02, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palm Springs Leisure Center Community Room
401 South Pavillion Way
 

For more information contact AJ Schneller at 520-623-5252 x314, ajs@grazing.org or Daniel Patterson at 909-659-6053 x306, dpatterson@biologicaldiversity.org.


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