The Colorado Cattlemen‘s Association (CCA), the U.S. Forest Service, the Chaffee County Board of Commissioners, and thirteen livestock producing families this month prevailed against a lawsuit filed by Western Watersheds Project (WWP). In 2009, CCA and Chaffee County joined ranchers in protecting their right to multiple-use grazing of public lands by intervening in a lawsuit filed by the anti-livestock grazing WWP, which sought to deny renewal of grazing in the Pike and San Isabel National Forests.
According to a CCA press release, the appeal by WWP objected to the renewal of the grazing permits, claiming that the decision violated the Forest Plan in various ways including wildlife protection, protecting soil productivity, protecting water quality, and protecting archaeological resources. The decision to renew had in fact been approved after a thorough environmental review. The Forest Service grazing decision also incorporated adaptive management principles to improve environmental conditions in the forests. The ranchers and the Forest Service worked together to develop management steps that would address resource issues and still be cost-effective. Upon reviewing the briefs and the administrative record, the court affirmed the decision of the Forest Service and allows continued livestock grazing under the adaptive management that everyone committed to do.
This ruling is very helpful in the greater fight against extremist groups as they continually file lawsuits with similar claims to those of WWP. The victory is also a testament to the great job CCA has done along with their members in collecting monitoring data to defend grazing decisions in the face of court challenge.
