Environmentalists are pointing their fingers at livestock grazing again, this time in California’s Sierra Nevada national forests.
The Center for Biological Diversity, which has long been an opponent of livestock grazing, recently submitted documentation to the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) of alleged damage to critical species’ habitat. The group writes that “persistent and ongoing failures” by grazing permittees to follow their grazing permits have resulted in “widespread damage” to the habitat for the yellow-legged frog and Yosemite toad.
“The devastating toll livestock grazing takes on soil and streams makes it very difficult for these vulnerable amphibians to survive,” said Tara Zuardo, senior campaigner at the Center for Biological Diversity. “The Forest Service promised to ensure grazing didn’t threaten frogs protected under the Endangered Species Act (ESA) and these promises have been broken.”
The California Cattlemen’s Association (CCA) asserts that livestock grazing sustains and promotes biodiversity in rangeland ecosystems. “It isn’t shocking to hear anti-grazing alarmism coming from an organization dedicated to removing livestock grazing from our public lands,” Kirk Wilbur, CCA vice president of government affairs, told WLJ in an email.
“While the Center has alleged ‘widespread damage to critical habitat,’ it’s worth mentioning that they’re alleging those damages to approximately 0.04% of the 1,812,164 acres designated as critical habitat for these amphibians,” he said.
Wilbur continued that while the group claims “96% of surveyed meadows and 90% of surveyed streams exhibited signs of livestock damage,” he suspects survey sites were “heavily cherry-picked,” to suit the group’s narrative.
“Our members work collaboratively with agencies like the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and U.S. Forest Service not only to avoid impacts to sensitive species and habitat, but to improve the landscape through their stewardship,” Wilbur said. “This collaboration is conspicuously absent from the Center’s report—there are no mentions of annual operating instructions or of range cons’ site visitations with permittees, for instance.
Wilbur added that if there are legitimate concerns for the species’ habitat, the federal agencies are well-equipped to address the concerns with ranchers’ collaboration. “But I suspect the picture the Center has painted is incomplete, at best,” he said.
Details
The environmental group cited several populations of ESA-listed yellow-legged frogs at risk, including the Sierra Nevada yellow-legged frog, Northern Distinct Population Segment (DPS) of the mountain yellow-legged frog, and the North Feather DPS and South Sierra DPS of the foothill yellow-legged frog, along with the Yosemite toad and the willow flycatcher, which is a species of conservation concern.
In their letter to USFS, the Center wrote that professional field biologists with the organization assessed more than 800 acres within the Sierra, Humboldt-Toiyabe, Inyo and Plumas national forests. The biologists said there was documented damage “caused by livestock to standing waters, riparian vegetation, soils and stream banks within more than 37 stream miles of designated critical habitat.”
The group pointed to USFS rules requiring livestock to be excluded from standing water and saturated soils in wet meadows, streams and springs that are occupied by Yosemite toads or otherwise identified as essential habitat. They contend there is evidence that livestock were in violation of these rules.
“Cows were documented in toad breeding habitat without fencing or other exclosures present to keep them out,” the Center claimed. The group continued that other damage included large areas of bare soils, loss of woody vegetation, bank erosion and manure piles in streams and meadows. “Where fences were present to protect sensitive areas, most were broken, degraded and in need of repair,” the group added.
The Center urged USFS to immediately address the violations and send letters of non-compliance to the permittees. The group calls the federal agency in violation of the ESA and National Forest Management Act, and said it would be “happy to supply (USFS) with additional survey documentation, including additional maps, pictures and GPS points.” — Anna Miller Fortozo, WLJ managing editor
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