While conservationists are accusing federal officials of using the coronavirus pandemic as a “smokescreen” to issue rules on public lands, they sued the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) earlier this month for its failure to protect the San Pedro Riparian National Conservation Area (SPRNCA) in Arizona from livestock grazing.
The Western Watersheds Project, Center for Biological Diversity and the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court in Tucson, AZ. The groups stated the BLM’s 2019 plan for the conservation area “sanctioned destructive levels of livestock grazing on protected lands, putting the area’s remarkable ecosystem at risk.”
They contended when the area was established in 1988, the BLM was given a mandate to “conserve, protect, and enhance” the riparian, aquatic, wildlife, scientific, recreational, and other conservation values in the area under 16 U.S.C. § 460xx of the Arizona-Idaho Conservation Act.
On Nov. 18, 1988, President Ronald Reagan signed the Arizona Idaho Conservation Act, establishing 56,431 acres of public lands and waters as the San Pedro Riparian NCA, our nation’s first riparian national conservation area. The San Pedro Riparian NCA starts at the U.S.-Mexico border and continues north approximately 47 miles along the San Pedro River.
The river flows through the SPRNCA to Winkelman, AZ, for a total of 140 miles, where it flows into the Gila River. The San Pedro River contains two primary tributaries (Babocomari River and Aravaipa Creek); it drains approximately 4,720 square miles in Santa Cruz, Cochise, Graham, Pima and Pinal Counties.
A 15-year moratorium was placed on livestock grazing in the SPRNCA in the 1989 San Pedro River Riparian Management Plan (1989), except for 6,521 acres that were acquired after the original designation. The San Pedro River Riparian Management Plan (1989) also committed the BLM to analyze the compatibility of grazing with the conservation values of the SPRNCA at the end of the 15 years.
Grazing allotments
Within the 6,521 acres, there are four grazing allotments within and immediately outside the SPRNCA. The Babocomari Allotment contains 11,512 acres of state, federal and private lands, including 1,865 acres of BLM-managed lands within SPRNCA, and it is located adjacent to the San Pedro River.
The allotment has been fenced into five pastures. Four miles of the Babocomari River runs through the southeastern portion of the allotment within the SPRNCA.
The Brunckow Hill allotment contains 1,923 acres of state, federal and private lands, including 974 acres of BLM-managed lands within the SPRNCA. The allotment includes two pastures, and BLM permits 84 AUMs in the allotment, including 64 AUMs within the SPRNCA.
The Lucky Hills allotment contains 20,998 acres of state, federal and private lands, including 1,728 acres of BLM-managed lands in the SPRNCA. BLM currently authorizes yearlong grazing within the allotment, and the permittee is permitted to run 1,080 AUMs on the Lucky Hills allotment, including 197 AUMs with the SPRNCA. BLM currently authorizes yearlong grazing within the allotment, and the permittee can run 1,080 AUMs on the Lucky Hills allotment, including 197 AUMs with the SPRNCA.
The Three Brothers Allotment contains 9,227 acres of state, federal and private lands, including 2,280 acres within SPRNCA, and it is located to the east of the San Pedro River. BLM authorizes the current permittee to run livestock year-round on the allotment and allows 192 AUMs on the allotment, including 162 AUMs within the SPRNCA.
Resource management plan—six years in the making
In 2013, the BLM drafted a new resource management plan (RMP), as the original was 25 years old, and grazing permits had expired. The new RMP was needed to address “increased population growth, increased demand for access and use, and increased demand for water that could impact the riparian values of the SPRNCA.”
The BLM developed four alternatives based on public comments received during scoping and input from cooperating agencies, tribes, and partners, and ensured that they met requirements for an adequate range of alternatives. The Draft RMP/EIS Alternative C proposed to open 26,450 acres to livestock grazing.
It increased livestock grazing “on suitable upland areas where compatible with the established conservation values” and excluded sensitive cultural sites, recreation areas, and the San Pedro River riparian area. Grazing would not occur on the remaining 47 percent of the SPRNCA to reduce conflicts with other uses and ensure the protection of the conservation values.
In 2018, the BLM took public comments regarding Alternative C with the goal “to have a plan that will guide the management of the SPRNCA’s resources while allowing uses where appropriate,” according to BLM Gila District Manager Scott Feldhausen.
In April 2019, the BLM revised Alternative C to reduce grazing from the proposed 26,450 acres to the original 6,500 in the uplands portions of the SPRNCA. The plan also allowed the BLM to take measures to restore the ecosystem, such as vegetation management, on a total of 27,460 acres through proposed land treatments, which may include prescribed fire, mechanical and chemical methods.
Despite the objections of people living in the area, the plan also included the expansion of spaces open to licensed hunting and provisions for a diverse mix of recreation opportunities for the community and visitors.
Rancher Mike Hayhurst of Brookline Ranch runs about 100 cows on a portion of the San Pedro riparian area, mostly on an area which includes private and state land. The ranch existed before the national conservation area was established. He said he and his wife are good stewards who use rotational grazing and rest pastures for long stretches to let grasses recover.
“We’ve probably done 5,000 acres of brush control on our state land, and it’s just amazing what’s it done to return it to the normal state, to what it should have been,” Hayhurst said. “If you do it right, it’s going to be an improvement to the land. And I think we do it right.”
Despite the change in the initial alternative and responding to the concerns of the environmental groups raised during the comment period, the groups state, “it becomes apparent that BLM has opened the entire National Conservation Area to livestock grazing, with no discussion, analysis, or examination whatsoever.” The BLM asserts that the revised plan does not include any targeted grazing permits and that the existing areas will include measures such as fencing to keep livestock from entering riparian areas.
BLM Public Information Officer June Lowrey responded to questions regarding the lawsuit and stated, “The BLM is reviewing the litigation, and at this time, we are not commenting on ongoing litigation.” — Charlie Wallace, WLJ correspondent
