Grazing Program Takes Off

by Tom Darin

WOC’s new grazing program, described in the last issue of Frontline, is already acting to reform federal grazing policies and their environmental impacts on Wyoming’s national forests and BLM lands.

In January, the U.S. Forest Service released an environmental assessment (EA) for 31 livestock grazing allotments on the Shoshone National Forest. Several of the allotments are near vital watersheds bordering Yellowstone National Park; others are in or adjacent to important wildlife habitat and popular recreation areas. The EA was the Forest Service’s response to a 1995 mandate from Congress requiring the agency to complete site-specific environmental analyses for all grazing allotments to determine whether to renew grazing permits for the 31 allotments and, if so, under what conditions.

WOC submitted comments on the EA and the 31 allotments in early February. First, WOC addressed the failure of the Forest Service to sufficiently consider the impacts of livestock grazing on fragile riparian areas. Overgrazing by cattle and sheep causes stream bank erosion, damage to both water quality and quantity and destruction of riparian areas, as well as the loss of native vegetation and the invasion of exotic plant species.

We also reminded the Forest Service that federal law requires the agency to first assess whether lands are capable of and suitable for livestock grazing. The Forest Service has never done such an assessment, either in the Shoshone Forest Plan or in the present EA.

WOC board president Phil Riddle emphasized the importance of these concepts, noting that "Capable is basically whether the land has grass and water that livestock could graze. Suitable, on the other hand, questions whether the land should be grazed, considering other resource uses and needs. We have to realize that there’s much more to our public lands than just serving as a place to raise livestock, and that some natural systems are being seriously damaged by continued improper livestock grazing."

A decision on lease permitting for the 31 Shoshone allotments is expected this summer.

WOC is also working to address overgrazing on Bureau of Land Management (BLM) lands.

WOC board member Darrel Short, board president Phil Riddle and I recently met with BLM officials concerning the condition of two severely impacted allotments in southwest Wyoming. The Smith’s Fork allotment, an area Short knows all to well from his 35 years of experience with BLM as a range conservationist and area manager, is a classic case of poor BLM grazing management. Its riparian areas are trampled, stream banks are eroded and vegetation is heavily overgrazed.

We gathered in Kemmerer to discuss these conditions and, more importantly, to question BLM officials about their timetable for completing an allotment management plan (AMP) for the Smith’s Fork. In 1986, the Kemmerer BLM office stated that addressing problems on the allotment was its highest priority. More than 14 years later, the agency has still not developed an AMP for the Smith’s Fork, which remains one of the most severely degraded allotments in the Kemmerer area.

As Short noted, "The poor condition of this allotment is a direct result of the BLM’s failure to uphold its public trust responsibilities. Decades of overgrazing have caused a decline of native species and severe damage to the watershed. It is imperative that BLM act now to correct the problems that caused this devastation." An EA for an interim management plan for the Smith’s Fork allotment is due in May, and WOC will be paying close attention to its recommendations.

Riddle, Short and I also met with officials from the BLM Rock Springs field office regarding another seriously overgrazed area — Cedar Mountain. Riddle has been concerned about Cedar Mountain for many years, dating back to his 27-plus years with the Wyoming Game and Fish Department.

Although allotment monitoring is mandated by federal law, BLM officials admitted to us that they have conducted no serious monitoring efforts in the Cedar Mountain area since they implemented grazing management plans for the allotments last year. Our tour of one of the allotments revealed severe damage: trampled stream banks, eroding soil and severely overgrazed vegetation, with the disturbing prospect that cattle will be back on some areas of the allotments in mid-May.

The BLM hasn’t analyzed the allotments’ livestock carrying capacity since the 1960s. We questioned BLM officials’ decision to allow the same number of cattle on these degraded allotments for decades, without analyzing the obvious resource damage caused by overgrazing and taking appropriate action.

"Unfortunately," Riddle said, "the BLM continues to allow livestock grazing regardless of its environmental impacts, when in fact some areas like Cedar Mountain need complete rest from livestock grazing. Many other areas need livestock reductions and intensive management of remaining livestock use."

WOC will take a firm position on the BLM’s Smith’s Fork and Cedar Mountain allotments and insist that the Forest Service follow established laws and regulations on its Shoshone National Forest grazing leases.