A pair of conservation groups has sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS), yet again alleging endangered species have been harmed by cattle grazing. This time, the groups have made the Gila Box Riparian National Conservation Area (RNCA) in southeastern Arizona their focus.
The Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society claim in their lawsuit the agencies violated the Endangered Species Act (ESA) by failing to protect and conserve species such as the desert pupfish, Gila chub, Gila topminnow, loach minnow, spikedace and yellow-billed cuckoo.
The Gila Box RNCA is 23,000 acres and includes four perennial waterways: the Gila and San Francisco rivers and the Bonita and Eagle creeks. The Center said earlier this year, staff members documented “extensive cattle grazing damage in this protected area, which is a haven for birds, fish and other wildlife.”
The suit alleges livestock damaged the banks of the Gila and San Francisco rivers, Bonita Creek and adjoining streams.
“More than 32 river miles were surveyed, and most of them had significant damage from cows, which are supposed to be excluded from the area because of its federal protection,” the Center said in a statement.
The Center and Maricopa Audubon Society submitted Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests back in March and May, requesting records regarding grazing and endangered species within the conservation area. In July, the groups sent a 60-day notice about the agencies’ ESA violations. The agencies did not respond, the plaintiffs said.
“The BLM can wax poetic on its website, but in reality, the agency has handed over this wild and beautiful place to local ranchers and their cows,” said Mark Larson, Maricopa Audubon president. “We’re in an extinction crisis, and it’s heartbreaking to see this critical haven for songbirds and other endangered species be abandoned by the agencies we trust to protect it.”
The suit concludes with asking the court to declare the BLM and USFWS in violation of the ESA and to order the agencies to reinitiate and complete ESA consultations on impacts of livestock grazing on the Gila Box RNCA allotments. In addition, the groups ask that the BLM take necessary actions to prevent “any further adverse impacts to threatened and endangered species, and critical habit.”
Finally, the lawsuit asks the court to find the agencies in violation of the FOIA and to order them to locate all records related to the groups’ FOIA requests. — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
