After environmental groups threatened to sue over grazing in the Colville National Forest in Washington, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) and U.S. Forest Service (USFS) said they would reinitiate consultation to ensure compliance with the Endangered Species Act (ESA).
Animal and Earth Advocates PLLC, representing several conservation groups, sent a letter on Nov. 16 to several federal agencies, stating the USFWS and USFS failed to evaluate the impact of grazing on grizzly bears and bull trout in the LeClerc Creek and Tiger Hill allotments located in the Colville National Forest.
The allotments are located approximately 30 miles north of Newport, WA, and encompass 23,412 acres of land within the LeClerc Creek subwatershed. The LeClerc allotment lies within the LeClerc Bear Management Unit in the Selkirk Mountains Bear Recovery Zone. In 1999, USFWS declared all bull trout species as threatened under the ESA.
The letter states both agencies were in violation of the ESA for reauthorizing a 10-year grazing permit, and an “insufficient, flawed, and unsupported analysis” was continued in the 2021 biological opinion (2021 BiOp).
“As a result, the Forest Service and FWS have failed to meet their responsibility under the ESA to ensure that the LeClerc Permit will not jeopardize grizzly bear or bull trout or result in the destruction or adverse modification of bull trout habitat,” the letter read.
“The Forest Service has long known that cattle are degrading bull trout habitats on the Colville National Forest but have done little to correct problematic grazing,” said Josh Osher, public policy director for Western Watersheds Project, in a statement. “It’s time for the federal government to get serious about recovering bull trout, grizzly bears and other endangered species in northeastern Washington, and we hope the agencies’ commitment to a new analysis will result in stronger protections against damage from cattle.”
In 2015, USFS published a draft environmental impact statement as part of the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) process for the LeClerc Allotment. During the comment period, objections were raised by the Washington Department of Fish and Wildlife, the Kalispel Tribe, a local utility district and government agencies. The comments favor the “no grazing” alternative, citing that grazing would damage the bull trout’s habitat.
The 2016 BiOp reauthorized grazing in the allotment, and according to the letter by Animal and Earth Advocates PLLC, USFS recognized bull trout were found in the LeClerc Creek and proposed fencing and grazing rotations to minimize the impacts to any one area. The 2016 BiOp concluded that grazing would not likely adversely affect critical bull trout habitat and incidental take was likely not to occur.
On May 28, 2021, USFS reauthorized grazing on the Tiger Hill and LeClerc Creek grazing allotments for another 10 years. The permit allowed 101 cow-calf pairs to graze from June 1 to Sept. 30 each year on the LeClerc Allotment. Subsequently, in July, the environmental groups sent their first notice of intent to sue under the ESA related to the issuance of the permit and for USFS’ apparent failure to initiate consultation prior to the issuance of the permit. USFS responded that it received a Section 7 consultation from USFWS (2021 BiOp), and the agency concurred with USFS that grazing would not likely affect grizzly bears and bull trout.
The environmental groups contend the agencies “failed to fulfill their substantive responsibility under the ESA to ensure that the LeClerc Permit does not jeopardize the grizzly bear or the bull trout.” They also claim the 2021 BiOp is “riddled with contradictions, based on old data and stale science, and dependent upon unfounded and inaccurate hopes about future behavior.”
The government agencies said in a letter they are reinitiating consultation to ensure compliance with ESA and an updated assessment of the effects of grazing on grizzly bears, bull trout and critical bull trout habitat. Additionally, the agencies will study the effects of grazing on the whitebark pine, which was listed as endangered under the ESA.
According to the letter, USFS expects to complete an updated biological assessment and to request reinitiation of consultation with USFWS, as appropriate based on its analysis, in February 2023. The consultation document will supersede the 2021 BiOp and USFS will ensure it will comply with interagency regulations until USFWS issues a new biological opinion. The letter did not say if grazing would be allowed while the agencies conduct their consultation.
“In performing this new assessment, I hope the (USFWS) will examine the science and fulfill its responsibility to protect endangered species,” said Timothy Coleman, director of Kettle Range Conservation Group, in a statement. “The agencies’ decision to reinitiate consultation under the (ESA) is a signal that it understands its vulnerability to litigation. I hope it is also a signal that it understands that it must take corrective action to protect grizzly bear, trout and whitebark pine.” — Charles Wallace, WLJ editor
