A study by the Center for Biodiversity found that much of the 42-mile San Pedro Conservation Area in southeastern Arizona has been severely affected by cattle grazing, with “BLM employees who worship cattle and fear ranchers.” ‘ is accusing.
The study, released earlier this month by the Tucson-based environmental group, identified about 39 miles of “severely damaged” habitat along the San Pedro River, the nearby Babocomali River, and St. David Cienega. By San Pedro Riverbank National Conservation Area. Center also scored another “moderate injury” at 1.82 miles.
‗The study identified extensive vegetation, trampling, and cow dung along the San Pedro River, where cattle are prohibited year-round, and along the Babocomali River, where the BLM allows cattle grazing only during the winter months. We have seen the damage.” The nonprofit earlier this month.
Administered by the Bureau of Land Management, this protected area covers approximately 57,000 acres of public land in Cochise County, about 65 miles southeast of Tucson. Created in 1988, San Pedro is the United States’ first riparian protected area, encompassing 46 miles of the San Pedro and Babocomali rivers and home to rare Southwestern habitats such as cottonwood and willow forests, wetlands, grasslands, and mesquite bosques. covers the ground.
The range is home to over 400 bird species, dozens of reptile and amphibian species, and about 80 mammal species, including ocelots and northern jaguars. Create what environmentalists call a “world famous biodiversity hotspot”.
In 1993, Life magazine called San Pedro one of “America’s Last Great Places.” In the article, conservation manager at the time, Greg Yunsevich, explained the need to protect the area, telling the magazine: It was because of something that was preventing the river from healing itself. ”
“We essentially lost the entire lower San Pedro River to grazing facilitated and facilitated by BLM employees who worship cattle and fear ranchers,” said co-founder of the group. Robin Silver said. It will be transferred to the National Park Service,” Silver said.
The center completed an investigation released April 10 after repeatedly complaining to BLM about habitat damage from cattle encroachments over the past three years. In August 2022, BLM officials pledged to remove livestock from the riparian area as part of a lawsuit filed by the center a year ago.
However, the center has documented dozens of additional cases of cattle crossing watersheds, and the group believes that grazing is the “largest central population of the endangered Huachuca water umbel.” destroyed the herd.”
According to the Center for Biological Diversity, reserve manager Scott Feldhausen said in 2021 he would not be collecting the wrong cattle “for fear of violence by local ranchers” against staff.
“It is impossible to settle lawsuits with BLM employees who are unwilling to comply with the law,” Silver said. is.”
Meanwhile, the Department of Land Management has paved the way for more cattle grazing on the reserve, despite such criticism.
The Center, the Western Basin Project, and the Sierra Club criticized the move, saying the decision prioritized “the use of private livestock over wildlife, clean water, and native plants” and the agency’s “long failure to comply.” claimed to be part of history. under federal law. ”
This includes the BLM’s 2019 Management Plan, which “authorizes destructive levels of livestock grazing on protected land, endangering the region’s remarkable resources.” wrote the group.
Cindy Tuell, director of the Western Watershed Project in Arizona and New Mexico, said, “It’s disgusting. Just because the Department is selling our precious waterway for political reasons.” Not.”Also, hiking Cow’s Pie or E. coli-laden streams in hopes of catching a glimpse of the rare species that depend on these ‘protected’ habitats is objectively distasteful.”
“The cattle should have been completely removed from this river,” Silver said. Do more for the river and never give in to the livestock industry. ”
The group warned that the decision to add cattle violates the Endangered Species Act and affects multiple bird species, the small Gila monster and the umbel. BLM “cannot or does not want to control” Pedro Rivers.
The San Pedro River faces several threats, including groundwater pumping and future large-scale development. It was also the construction site for the new border wall, where the US Customs and Border Protection installed a new wall across the river. This includes a metal bridge over the riverbed for patrol vehicles.
Last year, the San Pedro River was named one of the “most endangered” rivers in the country, along with the Colorado River.
Meanwhile, U.S. Congressman Raul Grijalva told the Justice Department former Secretary of the Interior David Bernhardt about his concerns about his ties with developers seeking to build the 28,000-unit home Village at Vinheto. requested to investigate. He commercial development on over 12,000 acres near the San Pedro River.
Last year, then-Chairman of the House Natural Resources Committee, Grijalva, said Bernhard and Michael Ingram, owners of Eldorado Holdings, which built the project, were involved in a plan that would likely violate federal law. said it was. In 2006, federal authorities granted a “Tuscan-style” complex, Vinheto, a permit under the Clean Water Act, which was suspended in 2016. Katie Porter said, “Extraordinary.
Ingram disputes this, but last year Grijalva and Porter referred him to the Department of Justice for a criminal investigation.
