A pair of environmental groups is suing the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) over cattle grazing along Arizona’s Gila River. The groups allege the cattle damage habitat for the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher and western yellow-billed cuckoo.
“Livestock grazing decimates the streams that struggling species depend on and these federal agencies have repeatedly failed to protect endangered species habitat. This has to end before more wildlife slides into extinction,” said Taylor McKinnon with Center for Biological Diversity in a statement. The Center joins the Maricopa Audubon Society in a suit against the federal agencies.
Suit details
The suit, filed in the District Court of Arizona, argues the BLM and USFWS have violated the Endangered Species Act by authorizing grazing on seven public lands allotments along the Gila River.
“BLM and the Service have determined that the effects of domestic livestock grazing are not likely to adversely impact these species or adversely modify their designated critical habitat if certain conservation measures are adhered to,” the suit reads. However, the groups argue these determinations are based on commitments to remove cattle from grazing streamside habitat during the spring and summer.
The environmentalists claim they conducted their own surveys of the critical habitat areas in April and December 2022 and found cattle impacts that included gazing during the non-grazing season, disturbed and degraded soils, and utilization beyond authorized allowances.
The groups then submitted a letter in April 2023 documenting their findings, and conducted follow-up surveys to see if BLM had “remedied the unlawful grazing,” finding they had not. The groups sent an additional notice in May.
“BLM and the Service were required to reinitiate and complete consultation when presented with evidence documenting extensive cattle use and damage within the Middle Gila River allotments in violation of the 2012 and 2018 biological opinions,” the lawsuit read.
The federal agencies did not respond to the notice letters, leading the groups to sue.
The Center and Maricopa Audubon Society claim their field surveys documented open gates, downed fences, unauthorized cattle and extensive damage to the river’s riparian areas. The groups also allege up to 92% of the critical habitat for the two species was damaged by cattle grazing.
The suit calls for the agencies to reinitiate and complete consultation on the grazing allotments, prevent further impacts to the species and their habitat, and develop a program for the conservation of species impacted by BLM’s cattle grazing.
This is not the first time the Center has sued regarding grazing in the Southwest—the group has also argued against cattle grazing along the Agua Fria, Verde, Gila, San Pedro, Black, Bill Williams, Big Sandy, San Francisco, Tularosa, Blue and Salt rivers, along with other rivers and tributaries in Arizona and New Mexico.
“Litigation and agreements resulting from those surveys require federal agencies to monitor and remove livestock from riparian critical habitat for endangered species,” the Center said. “Agency compliance with those agreements has been mixed, with some areas seeing livestock removed from critical habitat, while in other areas unauthorized grazing persists.”
The group alleged that livestock grazing is the primary driver of riparian ecosystem damage, and removing livestock from riparian areas is a “component of adaptation to human-caused climate change.” — Anna Miller, WLJ managing editor
