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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
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Palm
Springs
12-19-02, 7:30-9:00 pm
Palm Springs Leisure
Center Community Room
401 South Pavillion Way |
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For
more information contact
AJ Schneller at 520-623-5252
x314, [email protected] or
Daniel Patterson at 909-659-6053
x306, [email protected].
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