For the second time in six months,
a federal judge has slammed grazing on public lands. Last year,
U.S. District Court Judge Ancer Haggerty ruled that grazing was a
“non-point source” of pollution, forcing Oregon cattlemen to comply
with the federal Clean Water Act (HCN,
10/28/96).
Now, he’s ordered cattle off parts of
southeastern Oregon’s Donner und Blitzen River. The ruling came
after a coalition of environmental groups sued the Bureau of Land
Management for failing to adequately protect and enhance nearly 75
miles of the river designated wild and scenic under federal
law.
Haggerty’s decision prohibits grazing along
40 miles of the river until the BLM produces a new management plan
and environmental study assessing the effects of grazing on
riparian areas, said attorney Peter Frost of the National Wildlife
Federation. That process could take years, he
said.
BLM officials say the judge overlooked
their recent efforts to control grazing along the Donner und
Blitzen. “We shortened the season of use on the stream and lowered
the cattle numbers,” said Jim Buchanan, a range manager for the BLM
Burns District. “We’ve done some fencing. All of that wasn’t taken
into account.”
The ruling could become a wake-up
call to any federal agency that administers a designated wild and
scenic river, attorney Frost said. There are 47 such rivers in
Oregon, and environmentalists may push to apply the grazing
restriction to wild and scenic waterways in other states, he said.
And if the BLM appeals and the case ends up in a higher court,
Frost added, the final decision could apply across the
West.
* Danielle
Desruisseaux
This article appeared in the print edition of the magazine with the headline Cows aren’t “wild and scenic’.
Republish our articles for free, online or in print, under a Creative Commons license.
