WildEarth Guardians

Thursday, January 10, 2008
Forest Service to Revisit Grazing Plan in Critical Habitat for Mono Basin Area Sage-Grouse

Hilton Hotel Magnate is the Largest Permittee in the Area
Contact: Western Watersheds

Contact: Katie Fite, Biodiversity Director, Western Watersheds Project, 208-429-1679 (office), 208-871-5738 (cell) Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director, WildEarth Guardians, 503-757-4221

The Humboldt-Toiyabe National Forest has upheld an appeal by conservation groups and reversed a recent decision by the Bridgeport Ranger District to implement a new grazing plan described in the Great Basin South Rangeland Environmental Impact Statement (EIS). Western Watersheds Project and the Sagebrush Sea Campaign appealed the district's decision in November.

The Forest's stated reason for reversing the district's decision is that the new grazing plan failed to address the effects of grazing management on yellow warbler, a sensitive migratory bird species. But the proposed plan would also result in reduced vegetation, soil erosion, and weed invasion, and affect a wealth of values important to the public.

"The yellow warbler is the tip of the iceberg. This EIS failed to address the serious environmental harm caused by grazing to the very dry and depleted sagebrush habitats on the Bridgeport Ranger District," said Katie Fite, Biodiversity Director for Western Watersheds Project.

The 410,000 acre (641 square mile) planning area includes portions of Nevada and California in Mineral, Lyon and Mono counties, and is important habitat for mule deer and Mono Basin area sage-grouse. The area was also historic range for the imperiled pygmy rabbit.

Mono Basin sage-grouse are a genetically unique subpopulation of greater sage-grouse (Centrocercus urophasianus) that occur on the border of California and Nevada. Conservation and faith organizations petitioned to list the Mono Basin grouse as "threatened" or "endangered" under the Endangered Species Act in 2005.

Livestock grazing negatively affects sage-grouse by removing and disturbing vegetation that the grouse use for nesting, feeding, shelter, raising broods and hiding from predators. A survey conducted in the planning area in 2005 found that only 3 chicks recorded per 100 hens.

"The Mono Basin area sage-grouse has been reduced to perilously low levels," said Mark Salvo, Sagebrush Sea Campaign Director for WildEarth Guardians. "Livestock grazing must be significantly reduced or eliminated if the sage-grouse are to survive."

The Great Basin South EIS would have imposed an uncertain "adaptive management" scheme on grazing operations, reopened closed areas to grazing, and perpetuated the high permitted numbers of cattle that have already greatly depleted native vegetation in the area.

"These 'anything goes' adaptive management plans are a hallmark of the Bush Administration, a scheme intended to free the livestock industry from accountability on public lands," said Fite.

The Hilton Family Trust, which lists Barron and Marilyn June Hilton as beneficiaries, is the major permittee in the area. The Hiltons, like every other permittee, pay $1.35 per animal per month to graze public lands, the minimum fee that can be charged under federal law.

As the impacts of global warming intensify on Nevada's wildlands, the scenically spectacular Humboldt-Toiyabe Forest-the largest national forest in the lower forty-eight states-will become increasingly important for the survival of sagebrush species. Conservationists hope that when the district revisits the Great Basin South decision, it will act to better protect public lands and natural resources in the planning area.

"This EIS illustrates a systemic problem in the Intermountain Region, where federal agency policies for sagebrush are mired in 1950s range science. Sagebrush habitats are still being treated as sacrifice zones to graze privately owned livestock. This management paradigm is particularly outrageous in Nevada, the driest state in the nation, where foreign-owned gold mines, the Las Vegas Southern Nevada Water Authority (SNWA) and other water exporters, and rich hobby ranchers like Hilton hold permits to graze vast swaths of our public land," remarked Fite.