US cattle grazing plan for Idaho national monument approved

craters-of-the-moon

Federal officials say cattle grazing will continue at Idaho’s Craters of the Moon and Preserve National Monument following a challenge by an environmental group.

The U.S. Bureau of Land Management last week said grazing on BLM-administered portions of the monument not covered by lava flows will stay at about 99 percent of current levels.

Western Watersheds Project challenged grazing in the monument contending it harmed sage grouse, leading to a 2012 federal court order requiring federal agencies to complete an environmental review analyzing reduced grazing or no grazing.  Federal officials in May announced the results of that review and last week issued a 21-page “record of decision,” a formal document spelling out land-use policies for the BLM portion of the monument.

The agency says the plan allows officials to manage sagebrush landscapes and habitat with a small adjustment to grazing levels without harming the local economy.  BLM administers about 275,000 acres of the 738,000 acres of federal lands in the monument.

Western Watersheds Project protested the conclusions of the environmental review leading to the BLM’s record of decision.  The group contends that cattle grazing isn’t compatible in the monument that contains 700-year-old juniper trees and some of the last undisturbed native vegetation in the Snake River Plain.   (Spokesman-Review)