The environmental impacts of grazing on arid western lands are indisputable. Studies show that freshwater streams, arteries of life in the Western region of our country, are in the worst shape in recorded history, eroded and poisoned with livestock wastes.
Wildlife pays a heavy price for livestock grazing.
In two of the three hardest hit Western states, more than 150 fish and wildlife species, some already listed as endangered, are imperiled by livestock grazing on Bureau of Land Management and U.S. Forest Service lands. The American taxpayer pays too. The top 20 operators alone control over 20 million acres of public land. These corporate cowboys include four billionaires, big oil companies, insurance conglomerates, even a national brewery. As if this weren't enough welfare in times of federal budget constraints, some Members of Congress are trying to give public livestock grazing operators an even better deal.