The Forest Service started ordering cattle removed from some grazing allotments after lawsuits were filed late last year by the Southwest Center for Biological Diversity of Tucson and Forest Guardians of Santa Fe. However, the environmental groups said the Forest Service was not acting fast enough, and many of the river areas that were supposed to be free of cattle were not as late as last week. Kieran Suckling, executive director of the Southwest Center, said the agreement sets the precedent for the eventual removal of all cattle from all rivers in the arid Southwest. Environmentalists maintain that cattle destroy riparian areas by fouling the streams, trampling banks, and eating saplings and other vegetation. Environmentalists predicted that ranchers either will have to build fences and cut back on the number of cattle they run, construct millions of dollars worth of taxpayer-subsidized pipelines and water tanks to sustain cattle in upland areas, or stop ranching on federal forest lands.
Environmentalists pledge to block additional taxpayer subsidies.
Sam Hitt, president of Forest Guardians, called the settlement historic. In addition, the agreement would require the Forest Service to remove or monitor cowbirds on 34 additional allotments. Cowbirds are parasitic birds associated with cattle that substitute their eggs in flycatcher and other bird nests. Forest Service willingness to negotiate before hearings that began Tuesday surprised both environmentalists and ranchers, both of whom came ready for an all-out fight. But Hitt said the Forest Service had no choice, given the degree that cattle grazing had damaged riparian areas.