Remote mountains dissected by innumerable streams. Sagebrush wildflower gardens dotted with aspen groves sweeping up to Douglas-fir and lodgepole pine forests at higher elevations. Crucial habitat for the imperiled Bonneville cutthroat trout, a fish named after one of our most famous explorers, Captain Benjamin Louis Eulalie de Bonneville. The location of one of the largest Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Wilderness Study Areas in Wyoming, the 41,358-acre Raymond Mountain WSA.

This is the 90,937-acre Smiths Fork livestock grazing allotment near Cokeville, Wyoming.

Unfortunately there is another side to the Smiths Fork Allotment.

Surveys show that only 17 percent of its streams are in properly functioning condition. No streambanks have stability ratings of good, and most are rated poor or very poor. The allotment fails to meet two standards for healthy rangelands: one gauging the ability of riparian areas to withstand disturbance, and the other assessing the ability of an area to support viable populations of native species and provide habitat for imperiled species.

The carrying capacity for livestock on the Smiths Fork Allotment is approximately 34 percent less than the potential level of grazing allowed by the BLM, and approximately 20 percent less than what has actually been authorized by BLM in many years.

Simply put, the wild Smiths Fork, with its remote mountains and streams, is imperiled by irresponsible grazing.

WOC works for improved grazing practices
Because of the extremely important conservation values of the Smiths Fork allotment, coupled with its well- documented degraded condition due to livestock grazing—especially in riparian habitats—WOC has a long history of trying to improve grazing management in this area. WOC has sought to persuade BLM for at least the last five years to reduce the impacts of grazing on the allotment so that other important resources, such as the Bonneville cutthroat trout, will have a chance to thrive.

Recently, WOC achieved some important success in improving the management of the Smiths Fork Allotment. In April 2004, BLM and WOC reached a settlement of an administrative appeal WOC had filed challenging livestock management on the allotment. In return for WOC dismissing the appeal, BLM agreed to prepare an allotment management plan (AMP) by February 28, 2005.

While the "devil will be in the details," there is little doubt that an AMP that is binding on the permittees should help improve range conditions on the Smiths Fork allotment. And fortunately, based on several decisions BLM has made recently, BLM managers seem to recognize that substantial changes in livestock management, including reductions in the number of cattle and sheep grazing the allotment, are needed to improve its severely overgrazed condition.

So, WOC is hopeful that the AMP will make real changes in grazing management on the Smiths Fork so that real improvements in environmental conditions can occur. But if BLM fails to "do the right thing" in the AMP, WOC stands ready to challenge anew BLM’s grazing decisions for the allotment.

WOC supports responsible grazing on public lands
Despite WOC’s efforts on the Smiths Fork Allotment, it is important to note that WOC does not advocate ending all grazing on public lands. Rather, when grazing is done in a manner that maintains healthy rangeland and riparian environments, WOC recognizes grazing as an accepted activity on public lands. However, when substantial information shows livestock grazing on public lands is negatively affecting any of Wyoming’s natural systems, WOC may initiate and participate in legitimate actions that will seek to protect, restore and enhance the integrity of those natural systems.

The Smiths Fork clearly is an allotment where there is substantial evidence of significant environmental degradation in an area with extremely high environmental values, so WOC will continue to make it a priority for improved livestock management.