Greens come after grazing in AZ national forest

1. Environmentalists are challenging the authorization of livestock grazing in Arizona’s National Coronado Forest, claiming grazing is affecting the habitat and recovery of threatened species. 

In a lawsuit filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Arizona, the Center for Biological Diversity and Maricopa Audubon Society allege the U.S. Forest Service (USFS) and U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (USFWS) are protecting cattle grazing “at the expense of endangered species and native wildlife dependent on fragile streams.” 

The groups claim extensive damage has been documented from cattle grazing in the national forest’s streamside habitats, damaging habitat for the yellow-billed cuckoo and the Sonora chub...more

The article in the Western Livestock Journal gives more details:

In its biological opinion, USFWS found that livestock grazing would not destroy or adversely modify critical habitat for either species. 

However, the lawsuit alleges, “The agencies relied heavily on the permittees’ compliance with forage utilization rates set by the agencies, which lack a causal connection to the authorized level of take, are unconnected from the needs of the cuckoo and chub, and defy the best available scientific evidence on what is necessary to protect these species and their habitat (including designated critical habitat).” 

The lawsuit contends that USFS and USFWS are in violation of the ESA and have acted in a manner that is arbitrary and capricious, and an abuse of discretion. The groups ask in the suit for livestock grazing to be immediately enjoined, grazing authorizations to be vacated and remanded, and for the agencies to reengage in consultation under the ESA. 

You can read the complaint here.