The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) recently vacated and remanded a decision to allow a 10-year grazing management plan in the Alvord Desert of southeastern Oregon.
While BLM had previously approved the plan, Western Watersheds Project, WildLands Defense and Wild Horse Education appealed the decision to the Office of Hearings and Appeals within the Department of the Interior.
The permit would have allowed livestock grazing on 200,000 acres of land, increased stocking rates and authorized the drilling of new wells. This would have been the first time in nearly 60 years BLM authorized grazing in the desert, which is just southeast of Steens Mountain.
BLM found errors in its stocking rate calculations and decided the proposed management for the Lahontan cutthroat trout would be inadequate. BLM is able to conduct a new National Environmental Policy Act review and issue a new plan.
