The Center for Biological Diversity and Western Watersheds Project have sued the Bureau of Land Management, U.S. Forest Service, National Park Service and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for “failing to protect the Gunnison sage-grouse from harmful livestock grazing in the Gunnison Basin.”
The lawsuit alleges sage grouse numbers have “plummeted to historic lows” and blames livestock grazing as the culprit. “Many of the federal lands leased for livestock grazing in Gunnison sage-grouse habitat have been failing basic land-health standards as a direct result of heavy livestock grazing,” claimed Talasi Brooks, staff attorney with Western Watersheds Project.
The groups allege if the Gunnison Basin population is not recovered, the species will become extinct.
